Nothing Left to Do But Cry

Mario and Saverio begin their day in the Tuscan countryside, waiting at a level crossing for the train to pass. The two friends trust each other, and Saverio worries about his sister Gabriella, who is depressed after a failed relationship with an American boy. After the delay, they decide to travel along a road that cuts through the fields.

They head out along a rural road through the fields and soon find their car stuck in the middle of nowhere. They joke and rely on their camaraderie to pass the time, but the situation grows more uncertain as the landscape changes. The delay becomes a catalyst for the strange turn their day will take.

As evening falls and rain begins, Mario and Saverio struggle to move the car and seek shelter. They eventually find an inn and rent a room for the night, unaware of the world to come. The ordinary stop on a road trip becomes the gateway to a surreal experience.

Next morning they wake to a disturbing scene when a guest, jokingly urinating from a window, is slain by a sudden spear. The inn erupts in panic as more violence erupts, signaling that something is terribly wrong. The event marks the first hint that they have slipped into a bizarre, dangerous reality.

Rushing downstairs, they encounter other people dressed in strange attire and realize they are in an imaginary Tuscan village of 1492. A man explains their new setting and their world becomes an uneasy mix of history and fantasy. They must resign themselves to this impossible situation.

They are taken in by Vitellozzo, the brother of Remigio, who tells them of a deadly feud with Giuliano del Capecchio. Mario and Saverio slowly adapt to life in the village and begin working in the slaughter shop to survive. The Renaissance world tests their loyalties and their friendship with intensifying pressures.

While Saverio seems to settle in, Mario remains reluctant to stay, clinging to his past. During a religious function, Mario meets Pia, a girl from a wealthy family, and their relationship begins to form as he looks out from the wall of her house. The budding attraction challenges Mario's reluctance and hints at consequences beyond their exile.

The feud and arrests intensify: Vitellozzo is arrested, prompting Saverio and Mario to draft a bold plan to intervene in history. They write a letter to Girolamo Savonarola asking for his intervention or release. Their political zeal pushes them to imagine changing the course of history, even as their immediate survival depends on acceptance of the village's rules.

Spurred by their plan, Saverio and Mario decide to travel to Spain to meet Christopher Columbus and deter him from sailing to the Indies. They set off together, a risky journey that fractures their sense of time and place. The voyage becomes a test of friendship as well as courage.

On the journey they come across Christopher Columbus, and the mission to alter history takes an unpredictable turn. In an unspecified location, they encounter Astriaha, a beautiful Amazon who intimidates them by firing an arrow at their wagon. The encounter reinforces the film's mixture of myth, history, and danger.

Astriaha's arrow punctuates the danger of meddling with history, reminding them that time is unstable and consequences are uncertain. The travelers realize their choices could alter not only their own fate but the course of the world they have left behind. The narrative continues to blur lines between fantasy and reality.

At a narrative fork, the film presents different endings depending on the version: the standard and extended cuts conclude in notably different ways. The fates of Mario, Saverio, Pia, and the village inhabitants remain unresolved within the frame of the movie. Viewers are left to interpret the meaning of their time-traveling odyssey.