Angelo is 15 years old and lives in a small village in Sardinia in the early post-WWI period. He is very shy, and he is teased because of the disability of his elder brother, Agostino. He cannot defend himself and he would like to show more self-confidence, like his best friend, the charismatic Bastiano. Life flows in an apparent rural stillness, but the arrival of the Fascist Blackshirts disrupts the peace of the small community. While the villagers celebrate in the square in front of a big bonfire, Angelo can no longer hesitate and must decide which side he is on.