Tullio Kezich

With his family mired in financial troubles, Domenico moves to Milan, Italy, from his small town to get a job in lieu of furthering his education. A lack of options forces him to take a position as a messenger at a big company, where he hopes to receive a promotion soon. There, Domenico meets Antonietta, a young woman in a similar situation as himself. The two form a tentative relationship, but the soulless nature of their jobs threatens to keep them apart.

After World War II an Italian soldier returns to his hometown near the Alps and, unable to find a job, hooks up with a crotchety hermit who scavenges buried shells and bombs for scrap metal.

Andreas Kartak, a homeless man living under the bridges of Paris, is lent 200 francs by a stranger as long as he promises to repay it to a local church when he can afford to. Kartak is determined to pay back his debt but circumstances, and his alcoholism, forever intervene.

In Venice in 1943, a group of partisans led by Renato Braschi organize a series of autonomous terrorist attacks against the fascists while the National Liberation Committee urges caution. Renato is determined to carry out his ideas, risking his own life, and not only that...

At age 50, tax inspector Emerenziano decides to settle down and aims to the three Tettamanzi sisters, who, though not young or pretty by any means, have recently inherited a large amount of money.

Following World War II, the Allies designate that an unidentified town in the Trieste area as being partly Yugoslavian and partly Italian. A white line of demarcation splits the town in half and the townspeople are given just a short time to decides on which side of the line they will live. This leads to the dividing of homes, friends, families and the church and tensions run high.

A self-proclaimed "knight" and his hapless squire travel the Spanish countryside, attacking "giants" that are really windmills in his attempt to win the love of the fair Dulcinea.

The laboratory tests and complex work involved in constructing the dam in the Lei Valley are described in detail to give an idea of the complexity of building the Lei Rhine dam. Among double-curved arch dams, this one has the widest crest in the world. The construction of the dam is punctuated by the long speeches and anecdotes of an elderly master builder.