After September 8th 1943 the soldier Cesare leaves the army and returns to Lombardy in his home village that he finds under German occupation. He falls madly in love with the owner of the local bakery Donna Mathilda. A life without any worries seems to be laying ahead of him. But eventually Laura, a young, antifacist factory worker and other villagers who have joined the resistence forces manage to convince Cesare to fight again - this time as a partisan.