After ending up in a scenic Sicilian town while trying to avoid his daughter's impending wedding to a devout Catholic, a famous film director becomes inexorably involved in the nuptials of another beautiful bride-to-be in director Marco Bellocchio's semi-surreal drama. Though he tries to keep a low profile upon arriving in Sicily, director Franco Elica (Sergio Castellitto) soon catches the attention of the bankrupt prince of Gravina (Sami Frey) -- who cordially invites the filmmaker to attend his daughter Bona's (Donatella Finocchiaro) upcoming wedding. As it turns out, Bona was to appear in the director's latest film, a cinematic adaptation of the Italian literary classic The Betrothed. In the time leading up to the wedding, the smitten filmmaker develops a deep longing for the lovely Bona and starts doing everything in his power to sabotage her marriage to a wealthy lawyer.