Bandiera (Laurent Terzieff) and Rabbino (Franco Citti) are two dirt-poor brothers that live on the outskirts of Ostia, a small city by the seaside not far away from Rome. Haunted by their childhood memories the two still suffer from the presence of their long dead abusive father, an anarchist who married a devout catholic girl. One day the brothers find a beautiful girl sleeping in a field and take her to their rundown home. Soon the jealousies between Bandiera and Rabbino spark violently and break up their brotherly bond.