Introduction

A dying old man, a baby goat, a fir tree, and charcoal. In the southern Italy's mountainous region, the film shows one soul that moves into four successive lives. Highly acclaimed at the festival in Cannes.

Synopsis

An old shepherd lives in a medieval village of Calabria, at the southern most tip of Italy. He is sick, and believes to find his medicine in the dust on the church floor, which he drinks in water every day. One night, he dies as if his goats keep vigil his passing. A new goat kid is born. We follow its first few tentative steps, its first gamers, until it gains strength and goes to pasture. Nearby, a fir tree stirs. It was cut and carried to the village for the festivities. The tree now lies on the ground. It is transformed into wood coal through the ancestral work of the local coal makers.