We All Loved Each Other So Much

After the war, Gianni, Antonio, and Nicola emerge as Resistance fighters. Antonio returns to Rome as a nurse and falls in love with Luciana. Gianni takes a junior position at a law firm led by La Rosa, who is campaigning as a deputy for the Socialist Party. Nicola becomes a high school teacher and starts a family with Tommasino.

Three years after the war, the trio reminisce in a restaurant. Luciana and Gianni realize they have feelings for each other, while Antonio remains unaware. When the affair is revealed to Antonio, he attacks Gianni in a fit of anger.

Nicola has a violent argument with his superior over the film Bicycle Thieves, loses his job, and leaves his wife and son. He moves to Rome to rebuild his life. The setback pushes him toward a precarious path as a film critic and writer.

Gianni becomes a lawyer and is asked to defend a corrupt real estate constructor, which he refuses. He attributes his refusal to La Rosa's political and financial misconducts. The client's daughter, Elide, falls in love with Gianni, and he is implied to have accepted a bribe.

Nicola tries to work as a movie critic and launches a film magazine, but the venture collapses. He struggles to gain backing and find a foothold in the Italian cinema scene. The setback leaves him with unresolved ambitions.

Years later, Antonio, Nicola, and Luciana get drunk together and reminisce. Antonio argues with Luciana about her aspirations to act. Gianni later receives a letter stating that Luciana has tried to commit suicide. He finds her in a hotel, where she asks if Antonio knows about the affair; Nicola slaps her. She apologizes, and Antonio begins a fight with Nicola. The group parts ways, haunted by what happened.

Years pass and Gianni marries Elide, becoming a wealthy lawyer with two children. He builds a successful life that distances him from his earliest friends. His new status marks a growing separation from the old circle.

Nicola is shown on a TV quiz show about Italian cinema, answers all questions correctly, and wins over 1,000,000 lire. He calls his wife to share the victory, signaling a fragile reconciliation. The win marks a resurgence of his public presence.

On the next show, Nicola bets his winnings and, when asked about Bicycle Thieves, gives a long explanation about an actor instead of the actor's character, losing all his winnings. The moment cements a sharp turn in his fortunes. His pride and misstep echo the era's mood.

In 1959, Antonio is at the Trevi Fountain during the filming of La Dolce Vita when he spots Luciana, now an alcoholic. He tries to ask her out, but her impresario insists she is unavailable. A confrontation ensues, and she asks him not to see her again.

A decade later, Gianni lives in a countryside mansion and avoids Elide. He quarrels with his father-in-law over a real estate project; the father-in-law eventually yields control to him. Elide confesses having met another man, but he suspects she is lying; distraught, she commits suicide.

Antonio has a new wife; the friends meet Luciana, who works as an usher and lives with her young son. At a festival, Vittorio De Sica tells an anecdote proving Nicola's quiz answer was correct. They later meet Gianni, who pretends to be broke, and plan to meet with Nicola, now a newspaper stringer.

In the usual restaurant, Gianni declares that they are a generation that did nothing to fulfill their old hopes. They blame each other's politics and drink-fueled quarrels resume. Nicola breaks into tears of joy when Tommasino is getting married, offering a glimmer of hopeful continuity amid disappointment.

Gianni tells Luciana that he always loved her, but she says she never considered him. The group parts again as memories linger. Nicola discovers he left his driver’s license at Gianni’s place; the next morning they visit Gianni to retrieve it and realize he lied about being broke, reigniting their old tensions.