Ferrara 1916. Escaped from the rear of the front, the simple soldier Ferruccio Mambrin pretends to be mentally ill in order to save himself from the war. Inside the mental hospital in Ferrara, the boy undergoes violent psycho-physical therapies because he is considered a simulator by the conservative doctor Brighenti. Thanks to the innovative vision of Dr. Gaetano Boschi, Ferruccio is transferred, together with other soldiers, to Villa del Seminario, a place where he is treated through pioneering occupational therapies and the telling of his own story. Discovered by the police, he was denounced for desertion and sentenced to death. During the last night Ferruccio tries one last escape, but the days spent at Villa del Seminario made him a new man who stopped running away.