This film is set during WWII, and opens with its main character Pasqualino (Giancarlo Giannini) trudging through a dark and muddy forest in the middle of nowhere. He and his friend approach a clearing, where they witness a scene of mass execution committed by German soldiers.

The debate that follows between these two characters is whether or not it is a moral imperative to intervene or better to run away and remain silent. Thus this film’s main theme is set up right from the beginning – the horrors of war and the terrible decisions that have to be made to save one’s own skin.