A number of different segments taken from 19th century Italian stories.

A taxi driver, with singing ambitions, finds an abandoned baby in his cab and begins to look for his mother. He doesn't find her but succeeds in finding two people who want to adopt the child.

The film depicts the daring endeavors of Michele Pezza, the patriot/ bandit who opposed the Napoleonic occupation of the Kingdom of Naples at the turn of the 19th century.

The actress Francesca Bertini, as every diva worthy of her name, always arrives on the set extremely late. One day, in the studio, she happened to hear a colleague actor who, back from the front, tells about the brutalities suffered by the civilians in the occupied territories. At night, still troubled by that story, Bertini falls asleep and dreams: in her dream she plays the role of Mariute, a young Friulian countrywoman, mother of three kids waiting for her husband homecoming from the frontline. One day, while she is going to the well for water, she is assaulted and molested by three enemy soldiers. Her father-in-law will avenge her. In the meantime Bertini, waking up with a start, will arrive to work on time and she will end the film inviting the public to put their savings into the war bonds.

Elena and Zefor are brothers. They live with their mother in a wild country where smuggling reigns. At their modest home, Zefor plays the violin while she dances to entertain the bandits. Arturo, one of them, has conquered Elena's heart.

The city of Pola is being evacuated after the peace conference of 1947 decided to assign the sovereignty to Tito's Yugoslavia. However the main character decides to stay, thinking that Communism might bring him a better future. Life turns to be hard for him and his family until he changes his mind, but he is killed before he can leave the country.

During the first Napoleonic expedition into Italy, Thibaud is seriously injured before being caught up in a mystery involving his wife, her rightful inheritance and his own daughter's happiness.

The film covers a hundred years in the lives of the Ricordi family, the Milan publishing house of the title, and the various composers and other historic personalities, whose careers intersected with the growth of the Ricordi house. It beautifully draws the parallel between the great music of the composers, the historic and social upheavals of their times, as well as the "smaller stories" of the successive generations of Ricordi.

Anthology of tragic love. A noblewoman falls for a commoner. A doctor keeps quiet about his patients' infidelities. Expectant father is sent to fight in WWI. A 1920s fascist enjoys Rome's nightlife. WWII airman falls for a girl in Naples.

An Italian historical comedy film consisting of three segments, based on three stage plays by Anton Chekhov.