The message is all in the white spaces between one letter and the next: the rest doesn't matter. One cold winter morning, Dr. Fleischmann (literally, ‘man of flesh') realizes he is starting to lose his memory. So begins a morality tale, in a dream-like state in which truth and fiction become entangled and lose their contours. The main character, a scientist, is reluctantly drawn into a world - his disease - in which mysterious bonds prevail: those between fate and the biological and physiological criteria that regulate existence. The film is based on a story of the same name by Giorgio Pressburger.
When Irena Ruppel, a fascinating Slovenian woman, arrives in a valley of the Po river, she is hosted by a man of that area, Gabriele. She seems to know a lot about Gabriele, whom at the same time is intrigued by this woman who doesn't speak Italian but she seems to understand everything that happens around her. Once she leaves, she gives a weak clue to Gabriele: her name and Tolmin, the name of a locality at the borders between Italy and Slovenia. Gabriele can't help it and goes to look for her, taking a journey that will bring him to the truth about his parents, himself and this woman who threw his calm life into confusion.
Italian writer Giorgio Pressburger is wracked with self-doubt as he seeks out signs of his own religious faith in this documentary; in so doing he lays his life experience bare, topples all his certainties, gives the lie to hypocrisy and penetrates the most hidden corners of the human mind. He examines childhood fears, adulthood and its lies, and the enlightenment that comes with grace. With the help of fellow travelers like Dostoyevsky and Kafka, Pressburger boldly takes on the problems of evil and suffering as found in very different cultures. His is a priceless example of bearing witness and an in-depth look at the workings of the soul.
