Nino is a pianist, he runs into Valentina in the underground and falls for her. Valentina is rich but she tells nothing to Nino who is proud. Andrea was the boy of Valentina before Nino and wants to marry her for her money. Nino leaves Valentina when he finds out that she is rich while Andrea, turned down again, kidnaps Valentina.

In 1957 Trieste, a few months before the general ban on brothels, inexperienced country girl Mimma becomes Paprika to finance her useless boyfriend as a prostitute. Amid the hustle and bustle of Rome, Paprika drifts from one brothel to another as she learns the ropes and works her way up one client at a time. However, as Paprika embarks on a stormy journey of self-discovery and sexual liberation, the sense that something is missing haunts her. Is Paprika meant to experience a passionate romance and solve the great mystery of true love?