Mimi is a dockworker in Sicily who is pressured by his employer to vote for the Mafia candidate in the local election. He is assured the ballot will be secret. Angry with the system, Mimi votes for the Communist candidate. The ballot was not secretive and Mimi is fired for defying his employer. Bereft, Mimi heads for Turin, leaving his wife, Rosalia, behind in Sicily. In Turin, Mimi meets the beautiful Fiorella, who he learns is an active Trotskyist. They have an affair. Mimi grows conflicted as Fiorella becomes pregnant. Mimi  must unravel a life with two different families while embroiled with the Communist party.