Originally a six-hour mini-series, Cuore lost four hours after being cut down to this sentimental feature-length film on life before the turn of the 20th century. Four soldiers meet in the army and reminisce about their childhoods in a bygone era, and these are the scenes that unfold for the majority of the next two hours. The men have been privileged to have had good teachers in school, and while their home lives differed and in some cases were difficult, nothing really stopped them from going on to a well-adjusted adult life. As 19th-century attitudes are painted in clear strokes, viewers may still wonder if life was quite as ideal as these vignettes would indicate. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi