Among the many evening classes starting all over Dublin is an 'Introduction to Italian'. On the surface it could be just one of hundreds in which some students will succeed and others will fall by the wayside. But the Italian class at Mountainview School has its own special quality, and the hopes and dreams of so many people are tied up in the twice-weekly lessons. The students learn far more than they ever bargained for, and by the time they are ready to set off on the promised trip to Italy at the end of the year, everyone's destiny has changed utterly.