A man jumps off a moving train and goes to a small town to face its inhabitants, who seem familiar, but odd.
A boy comes of age under an oppressive, cruel socialist government and watches as it slowly but surely distorts his family, his school and even his own thoughts.
The Italian soldier Giuseppe Santucci, on his way home from the Russian front has his machine gun stolen in Warsaw. Afraid of consequences, he stays in Warsaw and occupies a flat of the Polish girl Maria, whom he suspects of stealing weapon. Maria indeed is an active member of the Polish resistance, contrary to her brother, Staszek, a painter, who only wants a calm living. In a course of events Giuseppe falls in love and, along with Staszek, becomes a hero of the Polish resistance.
