- Successful 50-year-old entrepreneur Tullio Conforti, opposed to divorce for religious reasons, is in fact separated from his wife and leads a frenetic life divided among numerous lovers.
- The famous writer Bernard travels to a small town nearby a lake to spend vacation out of season in the winter. He check in an old hotel owned by Enrico and his daughter Irma expecting to meet the maid Tilde, from whom he had a crush last time he visited the town. However, he discovers that Tilde has committed suicide a…
- The film depicts the rise to power of Alcide de Gasperi and the Christian Democratic Party in post war Italy and ends with de Gasperi's retirement in 1954.It is both a personal film (Rossellini makes no secret of his admiration for de Gasperi) whilst at the same time it does not lose sight of the historical context (de…