1939 : what a beautiful year for Claudia and Jerôme. No sooner do they meet that they are under each other's spell. 1939 : what a horrible year for the two lovers : war breaks out before they can get married. They meet again after the war but the enchantment has vanished. They decide to marry but it will be for reason, not for love. Miracles only happen once.

The tragic love story, already narrated by Dante in his Inferno, of Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Polenta. Francesca is married to Paolo's brother, Gianciotto an old and crippled man and secretly Paolo's mistress. When Gianciotto finds out tragedy ensues.

Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder.