Rome, post-WWII period. Nello D’Angeli is the pimp of Santina, a middle-aged prostitute who bears the signs of the difficult life she has led. Although Nello is young he avoids women his own age and finds refuge in his difficult relationship with Santina, whom he exploits but at the same time loves. One day, in a rage he kills her. A while later, Davide Segre arrives in Rome. He is a young, middle-class Jew who survived the war and now finds himself living in the miserable room of the poor dead prostitute, an old acquaintance of his.
Story loosely based on a chapter of "The History" a novel by Elsa Morante.