The story of Giuseppe Garibaldi's 1849 campaign to free Italy from Austrian domination. Although the defence of Rome has become impossible, Garibaldi declares his intent to continue the struggle for republican liberty and a unified Italy. With a following of four thousand men he begins a march across the Apennines with the aim of reaching Venice which is under siege but still resisting. However, the Bourbons and the Austrians pursue the volunteers who have in their ranks Frattini, a traitor secretly working to disunite the small but brave force. Many in fact desert and even the most loyal officer, Bueno, gives in to Frattini's proposals to impose summary justice. Anita Garibaldi, whom her husband had left behind in Rome because she was expecting a baby, rejoins him, and her influence, courage and vivacity succeed in restoring unity. San Marino gives refuge to the surviving force and the Austrians offer a cease-fire. But the terms of surrender proposed by the Austrians are so severe that Garibaldi prefers to disband his men, and during the night leaves for Venice with a few faithful. Many Garibaldi supporters are shot and Anita also dies. Garibaldi and Bueno manage to escape with the help of local peasants

1935 film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini

After having been captured in a Crimea during a failed attempt to flee overseas, Leo returns in Petersburg for Kira.

1942 Italian war film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini

The time is the Russian Revolution. The place is a country burdened with fear - the midnight knock at the door, the bread hidden against famine, the haunted eyes of the fleeing, the grublike fat of the appeasers and oppressors. In a bitter struggle of the individual against the collective, three people stand forth with the mark of the unconquered in their bearing: Kira, who wants to be a builder, and the two men who love her - Leo, an aristocrat, and Andrei, a Communist. In their tensely dramatic story, Ayn Rand shows what the theories of Communism mean in practice. We the Living is not a story of politics but of the men and women who have to struggle for existence behind the Red banners and slogans. It is a picture of what dictatorship - of any kind - does to human beings, what kind of men are able to survive, and which of them remain as the ultimate winners. What happens to the defiant ones? What happens to those who succumb? Who are the winners in this conflict? Against a vivid panorama of political revolution and personal revolt, Ayn Rand offers an answer that challenges the modern conscience. Written by The Publisher of "We the Living"