Franco, un hombre joven de ascendencia noble, decide casarse con Luisa, hija de un humilde oficinista, contra la voluntad de su abuela. Pero una terrible tragedia trastorna la vida de la pareja de recién casados: su pequeña hija Ombretta se ahoga en el lago de Como y Luisa va al borde de la locura.

1942 film

Aldo Piscitello, a minor government clerk, is forced in 1934 to join the Fascist party. When the war comes, he finds himself able only to talk ineffectually in secret against Mussolini, even as his own son Giovanni is sent into battle. By the end of the war, Aldo has found the courage to stand up for his beliefs, but by then it is too late.