Carlo Cataneo

Coming back from work by night, shy watchmaker Tommaso runs over a girl with his car, luckily without serious consequences. Next day he finds her waiting for him at his door. She asks him for help, as she can't remember anything prior to the incident.

Des amis de longue date, appartenant au milieu de la gauche culturelle, se retrouvent pour une rituelle soirée-buffet sur la vaste terrasse romaine de l'un d'entre eux. La caméra se promène et surprend des conversations puis, suit un personnage dans sa vie, avant de revenir à la soirée et d'en suivre un autre. L'enthousiasme de la jeunesse a laissé place à l'amertume et aux constats d'échecs, autant professionnels que sentimentaux. Le film suit successivement Enrico, scénariste à court d'inspiration, Luigi, journaliste que sa femme quitte, Sergio, un fonctionnaire de la RAI, la télévision publique, anorexique et déprimé, Amedeo, producteur de cinéma, et Mario, député communiste qui va avoir une liaison.

Tandis qu'une vague de suicides frappe Rome, un prêtre enquête sur la mort mystérieuse de sa soeur avec l'aide d'une étudiante en criminologie.

Franco Riva, a geologist who works in Ivory Coast, suddenly returns to Italy, to Genoa, to see his girlfriend, Claudia Fiori, of whom he has not heard for some time. Riva gathers various information about his fate. The concierge of her apartment, which she left two months ago, claims that Claudia has rented a house on the Riviera and got married. Instead, Claudia's sister, Laura, excludes that she might have gotten married without telling her anything and shows the man a postcard that Claudia sent her from Stockholm, where she told her that she was moving for the company where she worked. But the owner of the company, Piero Ricci, denies even the existence of a branch in Stockholm. So Franco turns to the police...