In 1943, Italy is under attack from the Allies. To escape the relentless
bombing, the countess Luisa flees to a villa near to Milan with her son Andrea,
family friend Ferruccio, and cousin Carlo. Of the youngsters, only
Carlo, the son of a Fascist, has any awareness of the seriousness of the
present predicament. Events take an even more dramatic turn when a
party of partisans that have evaded the Germans suddenly turn up at the villa
looking for sanctuary...
A wave of fresh talent in the late 1950s, early 1960s brought about a dramatic renaissance in French cinema, placing the auteur at the core of France's 7th art.
It was American film noir and pulp fiction that kick-started the craze for thrillers in 1950s France and made it one of the most popular and enduring genres.