Oronzo Canà is called to coach Longobarda, the football team of a small town of Northern Italy, newly promoted to the First Division. His only task is not to be relegated, but Longobarda's owner plots against him, finding the team's current ranking far too expensive, and his top Brazilian striker is affected by a deep saudade.
In 1914, a cruise ship sets sail from Naples to spread the ashes of beloved opera singer Edmea Tetua near Erimo, the isle of her birth. During the voyage, the eclectic array of passengers discovers a group of Serbian refugees aboard the vessel. Peace and camaraderie abound until the ship is descended upon by an Austrian flagship. The Serbians are forced to board it, but naturally they resist, igniting a skirmish that ends in destruction.
Odd couple Ivo Salvini, recently released from a mental asylum, and former prefect Gonnella wander through the countryside and discover a dystopia made of television commercials, beauty pageants, rock music, Catholicism, and pagan rituals.
