Ciociaria, early ‘50s. A young farmhand is recruited to participate in Miss Italia selections, but her body measurements are not quite right for the contest. To undergo a terrible process of physical transformation seems to be the only way to be elected Reginetta.
Milan, Italy, 1967. Santo Russo, a boy of Calabrian origin, arrives north with his parents and younger brother to find better living conditions. Due to an absurd misunderstanding and his father's contempt, Santo ends up in prison, where he gets a “true education.” In 1978, he and his friends Slim and Mario embark on a 15-year criminal career, a successful and ruthless spiral of robberies, kidnappings, murders and heroin smuggling.