Carmelo and Maria have a baby girl. He wants a boy but another pregnancy would risk Maria's health. Eventually, Carmelo leaves Maria and she attempts to win him back.

Luca Manzi is a fourteen year old boy when the Northern Italy Republic of Salò is governed by the Fascists. He becomes a partisan but when the war ends he is disappointed because things have not changed as he had hoped they wood, and he decides to let himself die. He is saved by Edith who tries to introduce him to sex. Based on the novel by Alberto Moravia.