What Is China Is Near About?
The premise of China Is Near in 294 words, with nothing given away. The full story follows below.
In the sun-drenched hills of Romagna, the Gordini Malvezzi family stands as a monument to fading aristocracy, their ancestral roots running deep into land they no longer fully control. At the helm sits Countess Elena, a composed and alluring matriarch who navigates the attentions of local admirers with a wary sophistication, ever conscious that her fortune draws as much interest as her companionship. The household she anchors is one of quiet tension, where tradition and modernity wage a subtle war for the soul of a changing Italy.
Three siblings embody the fractured identity of their class. Count Vittorio is a secularist professor whose intellectual credentials fail to mask a deep uncertainty, his political ambitions hamstrung by self-doubt and a temperament better suited to theory than practice. Camillo, at seventeen, chafes against both his seminary training and his family’s legacy, finding restless purpose in radical ideology that stands in stark opposition to the world of his elders. Between them lies a widening rift, one that reflects the broader generational upheaval sweeping through Italian society.
Into this rarefied atmosphere step two figures from the working class, each carrying ambitions that extend beyond romance. Giovanna, a pragmatic accountant-secretary, views Vittorio’s tentative advances with clear-eyed reserve, her rejection of his meekness forcing him toward uncomfortable truths. Carlo, a driven young accountant and treasurer of the local Unified Socialist Party, sees in Elena’s fortune a path to influence—and a way to reshape the balance of power in the region.
As political opportunities emerge and personal desires tangle with ideology, the Gordini Malvezzi clan must confront the collision of heritage and ambition. In a landscape where loyalty, money, and conviction intertwine, each character faces choices that could redefine their futures—and the cost of influence may prove higher than anyone anticipated.
What Happens in China Is Near?
The complete story of China Is Near, from the first scene to the last, in 564 words (about 2 minutes). Spoilers throughout. Names in the text link to 5 cast member pages.
Spoilers ahead
Countess Elena, Elda Tattoli, is a striking middle-aged matriarch within the Gordini Malvezzi, a family deeply rooted in the Romagna gentry. The household centers on three siblings — Elena, Vittorio, and Camillo — each navigating a different path through a web of tradition, money, and desire. Elena exerts a calm, indulgent influence, savoring moments of intimacy with local men while remaining wary that many are after her fortune rather than her companionship. Her presence anchors the family’s social standing, even as her choices ripple through the lives of those around her.
Count Vittorio, Glauco Mauri, is a secularist professor whose attempts to build a political career have so far yielded little fruit. He embodies the rational, modern side of the family’s conflict: a man educated in ideas but hampered by self-doubt and a cautious temperament. His struggle to convert his beliefs into real political traction sits at the heart of the family’s tension, especially as his ambitions pull him toward alliances that could reshape his status and future.
Camillo, Pierluigi Aprà, is seventeen and still in seminary, a figure torn between the weight of aristocratic heritage and the discipline of Catholic upbringing. He finds symbolic rebellion in a hardline Maoist stance, presenting a stark contrast to the more conventional paths of his elders. Camillo’s restlessness hints at a wider discontent with the old social order and foreshadows the clash between tradition and radical reform that characterizes the family’s story.
Vittorio’s heart leads him toward Giovanna, a pragmatic accountant-secretary who sees him with a mixture of sympathy and weariness. Daniela Surina brings Giovanna to life as someone who values clarity and agency, and her rejection of Vittorio’s meek, restrained manner pushes him toward a more practical, somber realization of his own limitations. In Giovanna’s orbit, Carlo enters the picture—a young, ambitious accountant who also serves as the treasurer of the local Unified Socialist Party branch. Paolo Graziosi portrays Carlo as a drive-driven operator with plans that extend beyond personal affection to social ambition and strategic partnerships.
Carlo’s momentum inspires a calculated plan: he aims to marry into Elena’s wealth to consolidate power and influence within the gentry circle. Meanwhile, the party offers Vittorio a candidacy in the local administration elections, presenting a clear fork in the road between personal aspirations and political expediency. This offer intensifies the underlying triangles of affection and loyalty, weaving together money, status, and ideology in a way that could redefine the town’s future.
As the campaign unfolds, Vittorio makes a pivotal choice to step away from Camillo’s more revolutionary organization in favor of supporting his own political path. Camillo reacts with a quiet, methodical counter-move, turning his attention to undermining his brother’s campaign and aligning himself with a more disruptive course. The ensuing tension reveals a deeper rift within the Gordini Malvezzi clan, highlighting how personal desire, family duty, and political conviction collide under the pressure of ambition.
Throughout, the film remains attentive to the moral complexities of its characters, presenting a nuanced portrait of a family at the crossroads of aging tradition and emerging modern politics. The Romagna setting becomes a character in its own right, framing the ambitions and insecurities of each figure as they navigate loyalty, power, and the seductive pull of influence. The story unfolds with a restrained precision, keeping the focus on interpersonal dynamics while letting the broader social landscape inform every choice and consequence.
China Is Near Timeline: Every Key Event in Order
12 key events in the order they happen, from “Family setup and roles” to “Rising tension and unresolved future”. 12 events name a place, across 10 locations.
- 1
Family setup and roles
The Gordini Malvezzi family is introduced, highlighting the tension between tradition and ambition. The nuclear family consists of Elena, Vittorio, and Camillo, each with a distinct path. Elena is a wealthy countess and matriarch, Vittorio a secularist professor chasing politics, and Camillo a seventeen-year-old seminary student rebelling against aristocratic and Catholic constraints.
When:Opening Where:Romagna region, Gordini Malvezzi estate
- 2
Elena's double life
Elena indulges in sexual relationships with common men of the town, yet she fears they seek her wealth and shun deeper ties. This guarded behavior shows her awareness of how money shapes affection. Her position as matriarch gives her influence, but also makes her wary of manipulation.
When:Early Where:Estate in Romagna
- 3
Vittorio's political ambitions
Vittorio, a secularist professor, pursues a political career and aims for local governance as a platform for his ideas. He seeks a candidacy in the local administration elections through the party apparatus. The pursuit exposes the friction between intellectual ideals and practical politics.
When:Early phase Where:Local town
- 4
Camillo's ideological rebellion
Camillo, a seventeen-year-old seminary student, feels increasingly constrained by aristocratic expectations and Catholic upbringing. He adopts a hardline Maoist stance as a symbolic break with tradition. This rebellious stance makes him a catalyst in the family’s political dynamics.
When:Early Where:Family estate
- 5
Vittorio's romance and rejection
Vittorio is in love with Giovanna, his accountant-secretary, but she rejects his advances and begins a relationship with Carlo. The rejection underscores Vittorio's vulnerability and foreshadows the growing tensions between personal and political loyalties. The love triangle adds emotional stakes to the political maneuvering.
When:Late Where:Town office and nearby streets
- 6
Carlo's ambitions and position
Carlo is a young and ambitious accountant who also functions as treasurer of the local Unified Socialist Party branch. His charisma and rising status give him leverage in both business and politics. Giovanna's involvement with him ties personal romance to the party's ascent.
When:Before campaign Where:Local political hub
- 7
Carlo's plan to marry Elena
Carlo makes a plan to marry into Elena's wealth by courting the countess, hoping to secure influence for his party. This maneuver would merge personal advancement with political objectives. Elena's fortune thus becomes a potential tool in local power struggles.
When:Planning stage Where:Elena's estate
- 8
Vittorio offered candidacy
The Unified Socialist Party offers Vittorio a candidacy for the local administration elections in exchange for his alignment with the party. The offer shifts the focus from personal romance to institutional ambition. This development accelerates the intertwining of political and family dynamics.
When:Campaign start Where:Party offices in town
- 9
Vittorio shifts away from Camillo
To secure his electoral bid, Vittorio withdraws his support from Camillo's organization, signaling a fracture in their once-shared political path. The rift places Camillo in a more isolated position as his brother moves toward the party's mainstream. Loyalty to family now competes with loyalty to ambition.
When:Campaign phase Where:Town and family circles
- 10
Camillo targets Vittorio's campaign
Camillo responds by subversively targeting his brother's campaign, using anti-establishment rhetoric and Maoist-infused tactics to undermine Vittorio's bid. The sibling rivalry becomes a public test of ideologies and familial bonds. The town becomes a stage for their conflicting visions of reform and power.
When:After candidacy announcement Where:Town campaign spaces
- 11
Carlo's leverage via Elena
Carlo accelerates his plan to marry into Elena's wealth, courting the countess to access the family's fortune and cement political influence. Elena's status is revealed as a potential conduit for both personal security and political leverage. The entanglement of money and power deepens the plot's stakes.
When:Planning stage Where:Elena's estate
- 12
Rising tension and unresolved future
With Vittorio's candidacy, Camillo's stubborn rebellion, and Carlo's wealth-driven scheming converging, tensions boil within the family and the town’s political scene. The narrative tracks how ambition, love, and ideology collide and reshape loyalties. The outcome remains uncertain as conflicts intensify.
When:Climax Where:Town and family circles
Who Are the Main Characters in China Is Near?
5 characters, among them Vittorio Gordini Malvezzi, Elena Gordini Malvezzi and Camillo Gordini Malvezzi: who each one is and the part they play in the story.
- VG
Vittorio Gordini Malvezzi
A secularist professor who has pursued a political career without success. He is in love with Giovanna but hampered by a meek, indecisive demeanor that risks losing her. When the local socialist faction offers him a candidacy, he wavers between personal affection, family loyalty, and pragmatic ambition, a hesitation that ultimately affects his brother's campaign.
- ❄️ Reserved
- 🕊️ Conflict-prone
- EG
Elena Gordini Malvezzi
Countess Elena is a glamorous matriarch who indulges in sexual relationships with common men to feel alive, while protecting her wealth by avoiding deeper ties. She wields influence over the family and town politics, using charm to steer people and maintain control. Her behavior reveals the fragility of aristocratic glamour when faced with modern pressures.
- 💎 Wealth
- 💋 Seductive
- 🗝️ Manipulative
- CG
Camillo Gordini Malvezzi
Seventeen-year-old seminary student whose aristocratic upbringing and Catholic education fuel a rebellious impulse. He adopts a Maoist line as a symbolic revolt against family authority and the social order, turning ideology into a personal challenge to the world he was raised in.
- 💥 Rebellion
- 🧭 Ideology
- 🧒 Youth
- G
Giovanna
Vittorio's accountant-secretary who rejects his advances and enters a relationship with Carlo. She is pragmatic and independent, navigating a web of romance and political calculations with a cool head. Her choices reflect a modern, self-directed stance within a traditional power structure.
- 💬 Independent
- 🧠 Pragmatic
- 🕊️ Cautious
- C
Carlo
A young, ambitious accountant who serves as treasurer of the local Unified Socialist Party branch. He schemes to marry into Elena’s wealth and the Gordini Malvezzi name to advance his career and political influence, using the family’s status as a stepping stone.
- 🧠 Ambitious
- 💼 Politics
- 💰 Wealth
Where and When Is China Is Near Set?
China Is Near is set in Romagna and Italy (1960s). Here is why the time and place matter to the story.
When
1960s
Set against the backdrop of 1960s Italy, a period of modernization and ideological struggle, local politics mirror national tensions between conservatism and rising socialist currents. The era brings elections, reformist energy, and a clash between tradition and new political movements. The atmosphere is marked by social change, political maneuvering, and generational friction within a noble family.
Where
Romagna, Italy
The story unfolds in the Romagna countryside where a wealthy hereditary family maintains social influence and estates. The Gordini Malvezzi clan anchors the town’s social order, blending old-world luxury with a stubborn resistance to change. The setting of a rural estate and small aristocratic circle frames the political intrigue and shifting loyalties that drive the plot.
- 🌾 Rural Emilia-Romagna
- 🏛️ Aristocracy
What Are the Themes of China Is Near?
3 ideas the story keeps returning to, among them Power & Class, Family & Desire and Ideology & Rebellion.
-
01
Power & Class
Inherited wealth and social status shape the local political arena, turning family influence into electoral leverage. The estate becomes a stage where old privilege collides with contemporary political ambitions. The narrative exposes how power persists through ritual, alliance, and control of resources within a tight social circle.
-
02
Family & Desire
Elena’s intimate liaisons reveal how personal pleasure intersects with social maneuvering while wealth anchors her protection. Vittorio’s restrained longing for Giovanna highlights the tension between affection and duty within a family- and power-driven world. Giovanna’s choices illustrate a modern, pragmatic stance amid a landscape of obligation and temptation.
-
03
Ideology & Rebellion
Camillo’s Maoist turn marks a break with Catholic upbringing and aristocratic discipline, turning ideology into personal revolt. The younger generation questions the legitimacy of the old order, transforming political passion into subversion. This clash tests loyalty within the family and exposes the fragility of a centuries-old social structure.
What Kind of Film Is China Is Near?
Dark in tone, with steady pacing and a moderate story, going by the plot summary.
- Tone
- Dark
- Pacing
- Steady
- Story
- Moderate
- Intensity
- Medium
A cynical and tense Italian drama that explores the messy intersection of family dynamics, political ambition, and class anxiety through a sharply satirical and melancholic lens.
- cynical
- political
- satirical
- tense
- claustrophobic
- melancholic
- political ambition
- class struggle
- family dysfunction
- marriage of convenience
Content notes: abortion.
Where to Watch China Is Near
Rent or buy it from Amazon Video. US availability and prices from JustWatch.
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