Walter Ferrari is an Italian soccer coach fired on the eve of the playoffs by club President Di Carlo.

Dante arrives at the castle of the recently deceased Marquis Zanetti to sell a book which contains a prophecy that the death of nine members of the Zanetti family will reveal a hidden treasure.

A young restorer is commissioned to save a fresco representing the suffering of St. Sebastiano, which was painted on the wall of a local church by a mysterious, long-dead artist.

Based on a true incident, this tells the story of a troubled young man who kills his sister's reactionary, violent and abusive husband and is eventually arrested for the murder. However, the dead husband happened to be a member of the Italian nobility, and the trial starts to turn into more of a prosecution of the defendant's socialist politics and the activities of his father, a well known liberal social reformer, than the actual crime itself.

A modest theatrical company, soon to debut, organizes a superstitious spiritual session. During the evening the spirit of little Thomas is evoked.

The story about a sinister magician-dwarf, physically unable to love a woman. His wife's betrayals and an obsessive isolation drive him to despair.