During the fascist era, Adriana a beautiful young model, becomes a prostitute after a love affair gone wrong. She meets Mino, a partisan who falls in love with her and wants to redeem her.

Edmond Dantès, who was active in the resistance against the Nazis, is accused for being a Nazi collaborator and is imprisoned in the fortress of Sisteron.

An armored van is attacked and the gangsters hide the loot in a graveyard.

In Naples at the end of the 19th century, Nicola Bellizzi dreams of becoming a lawyer. However, when he seeks the reason that people are reluctant to help him in his goals, he discovers that some of his blood relations are high-ranking members of the Mafia. He tries to break away from his family obligations, but falls into a life of crime and violence.

Inspector “Flatfoot” Rizzo investigates crime and corruption in Naples.

The yacht of millionaire Hellmann explodes in the Mediterranean Sea, with him and 8 men crew on board. Insurance agent Lucas investigates at the Cote D'Azur, because there's the suspicion that it could have been suicide. He finds out that Hellmann's villa was monitored, the tapes also contain information about the explosion. He uses them for blackmail.

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.

Georges, hunted by the Germans, had taken refuge with his brother, Commissioner PJ Paris. Once released, he teams up for the sake of a girl with the lackluster Zattore. A bank is robbed, but the police is fast and Georges will either lose his life.

An atmospheric tale about a national blackmail organization, where no one can be trusted.

The film follows four families, with different nationalities (French, German, Russian and American) but with the same passion for music, from the 1930s to the 1960s. The various story lines cross each other time and again in different places and times, with their own theme scores that evolve as time passes. The main event in the film is the Second World War, which throws the stories of the four musical families together and mixes their fates. Although all characters are fictional, many of them are loosely based on historical musical icons (Édith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Herbert von Karajan, Glenn Miller, Rudolf Nureyev, etc.) The Boléro dance sequence at the end brings all the threads together.