The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.
Four tales unfold in the Eternal City: While vacationing in Rome, architect John encounters a young man whose romantic woes remind him of a painful incident from his own youth; retired opera director Jerry discovers a mortician with an amazing voice, and he seizes the opportunity to rejuvenate his own flagging career; a young couple have separate romantic interludes; a spotlight shines on an ordinary man.
Set in 1970s Naples, bullied nine year-old Peppino is watching the world around him as his extended dysfunctional family change. Psychedelic flower power and hippie love is threatening the old traditional southern Italian family. Dad is having an affair and Mom has taken to her bed with depression. Super-mod brother and sister Titina and Salvatore take the boy under their wings, introducing him to demonstrations and love-ins, whilst caped superhero Gennaro visits Peppino even after being knocked down and killed by the number 12 bus. It is the imaginary appearances of this older superman cousin that help the nine-year-old navigate the complicated adult world.
Anna is an accountant for an important insurance firm and lives with her longterm lover Alessio - a man who longs for a stable longterm relationship with children, home, etc. Anna, feeling as though the fire has fizzled in that relationship takes up with co-worker Domenico and the two begin a passionate affair.
Mariano has been married for 10 years with Miranda, a woman way out of his league. Their small-town life is disrupted by womanizing photographer Andrea, who — struck by her good looks — offers Miranda a one-time modelling job. Albeit hesitant, the couple eventually accepts his invitation to the Seychelles...
Although this sounds like a weekend like many others, in the Prior house the atmosphere is rather tense because of some nervousness on the part of individual members of the family, especially the father, Peppino, who gets angry with anyone who happens to shoot: with their children, Juliana and Roberto, and his sister, aunt Meme. Meanwhile, his wife Rosa is dedicated to the preparation of the sauce, which she will serve for Sunday's lunch, to which she invited the neighbors, the accountant Ianniello and his wife.
The story of a middle-aged bookshop owner, who becomes embroiled in a surreal swirl of romance and family secrets of infidelity, her energy levels registering in bursts of electrical interference - causing lightbulbs, traffic lights, toasters and computers to spontaneously spark and malfunction.
Rome, Esquilino, summer. Rossella returns to Rome after years of absence and returns to her home, rented to her friend Salvatore, the set designer. The woman is gripped by an evident depression and wanders around the city that she does not recognize and that no longer recognizes her. People have changed and Rossella finds no one capable of answering the obsessive question that has plagued her for some time: "How can I disappear?"