In January 1943 the German army, afraid of an Allied invasion of the Balkans, launched a great offensive against Yugoslav Partisans in Western Bosnia. The only way out for Partisan forces and thousands of refugees was the bridge on the river Neretva.

In Nazi-occupied Rome, a beautiful bootlegger, to the chagrin of her lover, gives sanctuary to three escaped POWs: an American pilot, a Russian sergeant and a British major.

Retired professor Serebryakov and his young wife Yeléna disrupt the lives of his brother-in-law Vanya and daughter Sofya on a rural estate, leading to a crisis of unrequited love, resentment, and disillusionment.