David Rosenthal

His family's got money for the place and time.

His older brother, Dino, the golden child, you know, is going to make them proud.

He's going to take over the family business.

Enzo can just kind of knock about town.

He dreams of someday maybe becoming a journalist or an opera singer, mostly so that he can, you know, hang out with the showgirls.

Well, his life is an opera, as we shall see.

So there's one thing, though, that really captivates Enzo's spirit, which is the new modern sporting and leisure pursuit of automobile racing.

And one blissful night when Enzo is a teenager, he declares to his best friend his true intention in life.

I am going to be a racing driver.

And that dream does indeed come true, but probably not in any way that Enzo expected that night.

Because very shortly thereafter, World War I breaks out, and two tragedies happen to Enzo in quick succession.

First, his father, Alfredo, contracts pneumonia and dies.

Unrelated to the war, he just got pneumonia and suddenly died.

Shortly thereafter...

His older brother Dino, the golden child, goes off, enlists in the Italian army, where he also contracts pneumonia and dies.

So Enzo is left alone with his mother that he needs to support.

The family business is gone.

And because Enzo has never applied himself, he has no discernible skills or ability to continue it or, you know, really do much else that would provide gainful employment for him here.

That was supposed to be Dino's role in the family.

Now, before Enzo can stop to really think, he too gets drafted into the army, where he also comes down with pneumonia and nearly dies, but he survives.