A flood devastates Northern Italy with extraordinary violence. In a small borough in lower Padan, the breaking of the banks of the Po has led to the discovery of a huge ditch filled with rubbish.
Hidden in the ditch are drums of toxic waste.
Augusto Viganò who’s just over 40 and who’s the leader of a group of local environmentalists, blocks the special train of the Minister Antonelli who’s touring the area to see the damage caused by the flooding.
Antonelli si accompanied by his adviser Orlando Lanzetta and by a small TV crew who are interviewing him.
Antonelli, a politician of great charm, wants to show that he’s available to talk to the demonstrators. So he accepts the offer to be escorted by Augusto to see the rubbish dump at first hand (and of course under the gaze of the TV cameras) where the noxious and corrosive substances have already burnt through the metal drums containing them.
The alarm for the safety of the health of the people is entirely justified.
The idealist Augusto Vigano is ready to do anything to save the environment.
It’s the start of a true political carrier which results in a slow but inexorable fall, shown in the setting of Roman politics where everything is not as it seems:
the impact of the great fascination of the decadent life in Rome, the entry into parliament and the meeting with colleagues form other parties, the intrigues and betrayals, the first compromises like changing from one party to another to gain attention, the frequentation of the elegant and dangerous salons with the great and the good from Rome, where the real politics is done, the meeting with the fascinating Katherine Caffarelli who will play with the sentimental and political future of Augusto….
The surprise of finding oneself lying to your wife, your friends and yourself…..br>