An unauthorized version of Ayn Rand’s partly autobiographical novel, We the Living was banned by the Italian authorities because of the anti-communist theme, which could also be read as anti-fascist. It was originally prepared for release in two parts running 270 minutes in all; the present version was re-edited in 1986 under the supervision of Rand’s attorneys. The setting is post-revolutionary Russia, where eighteen-year-old Kira and her family oppose the new order. Kira’s ambition for education and a career as an engineer are disrupted—and the seeds for disaster sown—when two very different men fall in love with her: a former aristocrat on the run from the secret police and a Party official committed to communist ideals.