Mimi is a somewhat timid Sicilian who, weary of being told what to do by others, rejects the control of the omnipotent Mafia in his public life, and of his wife in the privacy of his home. He is, however, forced to flee north as a result of his stance, and he gets a job in a factory, where he meets and falls in love with Fiore. Their affair results in a baby, and whilst celebrating its arrival, he is caught up in a gangland shoot-out in a cafe. Police investigations reveal that he has no work permit, and he is returned to Sicily. His wife, whose attentions he rejects, becomes pregnant by a revenue officer, upon whom Mimi vows revenge. Not revenge of the traditional kind, certainly, but revenge aimed at increasing the number of the revenue officer's already numerous children. Announcing his success in this venture, he finds himself involved in the killing of a Mafia agent, and is thrown in jail. Freed, he conies to the conclusion that inhibition is the better part ol valour.

Lina Wertmuller's film, her fifth outside her work for television, is a serious one about the forces which are constantly controlling men's lives, but her style has been described as 'bawdy' and 'wildly anarchic'.