After 18 years in a psychiatric clinic, Augusto, Vittorio Gassman returns to his home in Rome under the care of his daughter-in-law Carla, Dominique Sanda. Divorced long ago, she shares the house with her lover Giorgio, Maurizio Fardo, his 12-year-old daughter, and Rosa, Valentina Holtkamp, Carla's 9-year-old daughter who is Augusto's granddaughter. Bright and often solitary, Rosa immediately feels a pull toward the grandfather she has never known and begins to seek his company with a warmth that both consoles and unsettles those around them.
As Augusto settles back into the rhythms of daily life, a familiar recognition from his past surfaces when he visits his old household: a former secretary, still in a place of leverage, offers him a ride home but instead draws him into her flat, where she cooks lunch and then makes advances. Augusto phones for a return to his own space, but the moment reveals the fragility of the home he’s stepped back into. Back at the couple’s residence, a drinks party for business contacts unfolds, and Augusto’s spontaneity clashes with the social niceties of the guests. He even offends a client, an act that unsettles the room and foreshadows the trouble his presence can stir. A psychiatrist who hosts a TV program recognizes the combustible spark in him and extends an invitation to appear on air.
In the bar before the broadcast, Augusto meets Alcide, Elliott Gould, an old roommate from the clinic who now lives with a prostitute at a farmhouse outside the city. The two drift into mischief, interrupting the show, and the moment underlines a larger tension: Augusto’s unpredictable nature and the real risks that accompany his return to public life. Carla and Giorgio monitor these developments from their home, where the disruption casts a shadow over their own professional milestones and personal comfort.
Carnival season brings a pivotal turn. The children of Rosa’s school host a party in fancy dress, and Augusto volunteers to escort his granddaughter home. They wander the lively streets, encounter a homeless man, and step into a bar for talk and warmth. After a glass of red wine, Rosa falls into a deep sleep, and Augusto carries her back to the safety of their home. Carla, fearing for the stability of her family, confronts him and reveals the threat of possible recommitment if he does not curb his impulses.
To escape that threat, Augusto runs away to Alcide’s farmhouse, leaving his address with the girl who has already come to depend on him. Rosa later joins him, having faced the threat of being sent to a distant boarding school and missing the grandfather she adores. A police search ensues, and the pair are eventually traced and brought back to the domestic life they left behind. Rosa is sent off to boarding school, while Augusto finds a room of his own, living in a quiet solitude that matches his years of exile from society. Months later, when he visits Rosa, she still shows affection, but her attention has shifted toward a handsome young cousin she has met. Augusto understands that she must grow into her own life, and that he will remain alone, a quiet observer of the next chapter in her growth and his own fragile, enduring solitude.
