Filippo, a 22-year-old small-time crook, befriends the older Carlo in prison, a political prisoner of the extreme left. Together they escape, but Carlo is not willing to keep the young man by his side; he sends him away. Shortly after, Carlo is shot during a bank robbery. Filippo flees to Paris, where he is met rather unfriendly by the Italian political exiles. He increasingly feels lost. During his night shifts in an office tower in La Défense, Filippo begins to write: about his encounter with Carlo in prison, their joint escape, and what happened afterward. Throughout this process of writing, reconstructing, embellishing, and beautifying, Filippo becomes a writer. He invents a persona for himself and experiences a love story. And suddenly, he finds himself in a highly complex game involving Italians.