Giovanna is a young working-class wife and mother, who has no time for the senile elderly man her husband has rescued from the streets. But as she uncovers the stranger's secrets, it unlocks a freedom within her heart she never expected; a freedom that will lead her to the arm of a neighbor she secretly adores, and to fulfillment her husband and family cannot provide.

Groundlessly jealous of his wife's romantic past, Enrico Fontana hires a private detective to finally determine whether she is fathful or not. Ironically, his suspicious attitude unconsciously brings his wife, Paola, together with Guido, a man with whom she had once been in love. Paola and Guido's past was clouded in tragedy. Giudo had been involved with Paola's close friend's death. Their passion rekindled once again, the lovers even get to the point...

Giulia teaches swimming at a pool. One of her pupils is the young daughter of Guido, a successful and married writer grappling with feelings of futility about his profession. When they meet at the pool, Guido gets intrigued by this charming woman who keeps initially a certain distance, because Giulia hides a secret and a mysterious past. Their brief affair based on abdication, fragility, and selfishness will lead Giulia to an extreme decision.

With his passions reawakened by a long lost love, Carlo's affair threatens to tear apart his entire family. Unfullfilled desires and ambitions which have worn each of them down now resurface when a crisis makes them realize the importance of family.

Nevenka's ex-lover, who is her husband's brother, Kurt, has come back to claim her and he does so by engaging in a forbidden rendezvous. The next day Kurt is found dead, but his ghost comes back to haunt all those who live in the mansion, and to continue his love affair with Nevenka.

Tullio, an insatiable aristocrat, grows bored with his timid wife, neglecting her for his exciting mistress. After learning that she is having a torrid affair of her own, he begins to descend into madness.