Gerardo Scala

In Naples, Professor Bellavista is a retired man, passionate about the philosophy and thought of Ancient Greece. Every day, in his luxurious apartment, he teaches his lessons of life to the poor-nothing (his friends), who are dazzled by his reasoning. One day, however, the quiet life of the building of Bellavista will be disturbed by the arrival of a director of Milan. Between Naples and Milan there contrast, because the Neapolitans are accustomed to enjoy a quiet life, always based on the "philosophy of pleasure and delay", while the northern Italians are very strict and punctual.

Luca, a young boy of eleven, lives with his grandfather in a majestic house in Rome. Learning that his mother, whom he believed to be dead, now lives in Argentina, he goes to look for his portable computer, Toto.

Three episodes about the relativity of time.

Mauro, a judge, is worried about his older sister Marta, who took care of him since he was a boy, and now suffers from mental illness and suicidal thoughts. She seems to recover from her depression when Mauro acquaints her with Giovanni, a brilliant actor at the edge of legality. However, Mauro becomes unconsciously jealous of their relationship.

An Italian laborer foils anyone who tries to stop him from selling espresso on the Milan-to-Naples night train.

During a debate in Naples' town hall in the early 1980s, Pasquale Picone, a former steel-worker who has recently lost his job, sets himself on fire in front of the Municipal Council.

Kwaku, a young African medical student, arrives in Italy where he is to meet his brother Job (nicknamed Pummarò.) This one is a tomato picker in the Naples region and works in extreme conditions to be able to pay his brother's studies. But to Kwaku's dismay, Job has disappeared. The young student then decides to do everything he can to trace missing Pummarò.

A doorman and a street cleaner, intrigued by the passage of Halley's Comet, ask Professor Bellavista if they can observe the sky through his telescope. The two, instead of observing the comet, end up framing a window of the apartment opposite and believe they have discovered a crime. So they set out in search of the body.