On the island of Capri, Margherita retraces the fate of her adoptive great-grandmother, a Jewish refugee, discovering how the lives of three women intertwine with the island’s dark and magical soul — from the Nazi terror to the present day.
Caprilegio is an emotional journey into the hidden heart of Capri, far from tourist clichés, where beauty and darkness coexist. The film explores the island’s contradictions and its untold stories through a personal investigation that connects past and present.
At the heart of the story is Margherita Laterza, whose search through family memories leads her to Margarete Bielschovsky, a German Jewish woman who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s following the tragic loss of her husband and son. In search of refuge, Margarete arrives in Capri, carrying with her grief, exile and resilience. On the island, she marries Tantino, known as ‘the most handsome man in Capri’, and together they build Villa La Gioia, a meeting place for artists, intellectuals and outsiders, including the writer Curzio Malaparte. Beneath this apparent rebirth, however, lie silences, shadows and wounds that have never healed. Despite the losses she has suffered, Margarete forges a deep and transformative maternal bond with Carmelina, her husband’s niece and the future grandmother of Margherita Laterza. Through the intertwined stories of Margherita, Margarete and Carmelina, Caprilegio reveals Capri as both a refuge and a witness: an island shaped by memory, survival and the lingering echoes of history.
