The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.

The story takes place in an unspecified town in Apulia. We are in the '70s. The arrival of three beautiful and uninhibited girls from the North, the daughters of an engineer who has moved to run a factory, brings the turmoil amongst the young people of the town. Stories of love, betrayals, state money (stolen) and broken promises intertwine. All through the eyes of Carlo (alter ego of the director Sergio Rubini), the youngest.

Working in the shadows of music stars, a gifted guitarist returns to his hometown and decides to stage a disappearing act in order to propel him to fame.

An accident involving a 16-years old prompts private eye Corso to an investigation that will unearth a deep web of corruption in today's Rome.