From the 1920s into the mid-70s, old friends Andrea, Guido and Nives are repeatedly separated and reunited as the world goes through tumultuous changes. Natives of Viareggio, Italy, youthful Andrea grows quietly jealous when Guido and Nives are married, and opposes Guido's enlistment in Mussolini's Black Brigade. Meeting again in a mental hospital at the end of World War II, Andrea and Nives try to revive Guido from a catatonic state induced by the horrors of the war. It is not until the 70s that the old friends are once again reunited in their old age.