Ferruccio, a fifteen year-old boy and son of a World War I hero, finds himself fighting amongst the last defenders of the Salò Republic. During these days, he writes a diary about his experencies and also the destinies of his older sisters—Liliana and Maria Grazia, married to a fascist and a communist partisan, respectively. The film director is the great-nephew of Ferruccio who, with the guidance of Ferruccio’s diary, embarks on a journey into his family’s past.