Robert is an architect and artist, in Vichy after separating from his Parisian wife. Robert finds it calms him to stand in the shadows of the home of Juliette and Patrick and watch her cook. She thinks he's a prowler and confronts him, then invites him in...
Expatriate Henry Miller indulges in a variety of sexual escapades while struggling to establish himself as a serious writer in Paris.
Elvio Battistini works as a ticket taker in the local cinema of the small town where he lives. He has a prosthesis in one leg, the result of an accident, but he tells anyone who will listen it is a war injury. Giuseppe Mondardini, is also an older man living alone in what was the splendid family home. When Elvio and Giuseppe meet, they hit it off immediately. A trip to a cooler area is in order, so Mordardini unveils his ancient automobile.
During their invasion of Ethiopia in 1936, a wounded Italian soldier gets stranded in the wilderness after a truck wreck and makes his way to the nearest army hospital, losing his sanity in the process.
As the Roman Empire slowly declines, Caesar Nero indulges himself in every known debauchery, including incest with his mother.
