Summer, 1943. Wealthy youth in the Riccione district of Rimini play while the war gets closer. Carlo Caremoli, a young man who follows the crowd, has found ways to avoid military service. Then, on the beach, he meets Roberta, a war widow with a child.

As Italy sped toward economic recovery, Valerio Zurlini revisited the country’s fascist past in his poignant second film, starring a young Jean-Louis Trintignant. Drawn from the director’s teenage memories of Riccione, this tale of impossible love juxtaposes sun-soaked frolics with wartime horrors.