Follow Your Heart (1996): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1996, Follow Your Heart is a drama and romance film directed by Cristina Comencini, running about 110 minutes.

What it’s about. The complicated travails of several generations of Italian women provide the basis for this drama that is based on a novel by Susanna Tamaro. It begins with the peaceful death of Olga, the elderly family matriarch. Marta, her granddaughter returns from the US to attend the funeral and once in Olga's villa in Trieste, begins reading her grandmother's diary. Olga's story unfolds via flashback. As a young woman, Oldga had to marry Antonio a man she didn't love. Later she became passionately involved with a handsome doctor at the local spa. He impregnates her and shortly thereafter dies in a terrible car wreck. The result of their love is Illaria, who grows up to be terribly neurotic. She bears Marta and then she too dies in an automobile accident, leaving Marta to be raised by Olga.

Who’s in it. Follow Your Heart stars Virna Lisi as Olga, Margherita Buy as Olga da giovane, Galatea Ranzi as Ilaria and Massimo Ghini as Augusto, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.2/10, Follow Your Heart has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Follow Your Heart page.

If you liked it. Fans of Follow Your Heart tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.