As part of a science experiment, a man has spent a record-breaking length of time alone down a hole, but an hour before he's due to re-emerge, something goes wrong and his colleagues have to go in to rescue him.

Over a long weekend, a group of friends gathers together, a diverse representation of the last twenty-five years of the Italian left. Some of them haven't seen each other in a long time; the occasion is the release from prison of a former friend and comrade, accused of killing a judge in the 1980s. Roberto Ferro is on parole and wants to know which of his former comrades reported him. Among the friends, some have achieved privileged positions; others, like Nanni and Malena, have adapted to a more modest life and have retained, at least in part, the ideals of their youth. Malena, an Argentine exile who experienced torture at the hands of the military, had a love affair with Roberto and, before that, a strong bond with a disappeared comrade. Roberto's return reignites personal and political conflicts within the group.

Alina is a brilliant and enterprising woman who runs a successful art gallery in Palermo. Her husband Daniele, a successful orchestra conductor, cultured and intelligent, is not a regular presence. One day, while accompanying Daniele to the airport, Alina feels a sense of emptiness. She will try to fill it with a butcher who is always joking and full of erotic allusions and who arouses a strong attraction in her.

Giacomo Puccini, the son of a Tuscan organist, achieves world-wide recognition as a composer of operas and dies from throat cancer in the middle of an artistic crisis, at the age of just sixty-six.

The freshly graduated psychiatrist David shall deliver an opinion about young Maddalena, who's on trial for murdering a hunter. She claims she's a witch and acted on behalf of the devil.

A middle aged woman, recently released from prison robs a jewellery store and takes off with her long lost teenage son

Carlo Corsi, coach of a rising football team, encourages his talented son Marco to become a champion. However, Marco struggles with the pressure, leading him to use performance-enhancing drugs. The mother, Giovanna, tries to reunite the family through their shared love of the sport.