Physical laws and human relations. In Terni (in the center of Italy), during a hot summer, Matteo, 30-years old with a degree in physics but unemployed gives private lessons to Elsa and Giulio. The three of them soon become friends but Matteo and Giulio also become love rivals.

Naples, 1959. Pure Mathematics professor Renato Caccioppoli, Bakunin's grandson, is a tortured soul. Recently discharged from the psychiatric hospital, left by his wife, and increasingly disillusioned with academia and the Communist Party, he lives his last days with painful detachment.

A young poet falls in love with a sophisticated woman who hates poetry. But the poet wants to win her with poetry — and a bit of help from his mum.