The Gadfly is a 1980 Soviet drama film directed by Nikolai Mashchenko based on the novel by Ethel Lilian Voynich. Its screenplay was written by Yuli Dunsky and Valeri Frid.

Plot

Student Arthur Burton, the son of a wealthy English shipowner from Livorno, is fascinated by the idea of uniting Italy into one country and liberating it from the Austrian Habsburgs. Elder brother James and his wife Julia openly dislike Arthur, and the only person close to him is the rector of the seminary, Bishop Montanelli. Due to the circumstances, Arthur is briefly imprisoned, and after leaving there, he experiences a serious quarrel with Gemma. On the same day, he learns from his brother's wife that his father is in fact Montanelli. Arthur decides to go to South America, and pre-simulates his death…