Valeria Golino i K. Zanussi

The film is based on a play by Rococo Familiari, twice put on stage and based on a true story that took place in Catania about 20 years ago.

A young woman's husband is killed. She contacts the mafia to discover the identity of the killer. In the play and in the film, the story evolves into a tragedy through the force of symbols and through the motifs of love, crime, and forgiveness.

The heroine, Agatha, shares a life of passion with Manfredi, her younger and very handsome husband, until he is killed quite accidentally by a social outcast. To vent off his rage at his wretched lot, he shoots from the window at the young, beautiful man who epitomises undeserved happiness.The true reasons for the killing remain unknown to the investigators.When she learns that her husband is dead, Agatha faints. She refuses to accept the fact that she is now a widow. She thinks she is pregnant by her husband. Carrying a new life inside her, she wishes to forego vengeance for the killing which she takes to be unreal. Once she understands that she is not pregnant, Agatha starts to look for the killer. She finds him and leads him on: she pretends to be a flirt and so encourages him to confess. The plan heads for her self-destruction. She will kill herself with the same bullet that mortally wounded her husband and so reunite with him at the moment of death. The killer will also die. The only glimmer of hope will come from the killer's brother, a young man who wants to break out of the vicious circle of hate and revenge.