Onboard a rattling train bound for Livorno, Angela Carla Del Poggio searches for her brother Carlo. She witnesses a brutal drive-by shooting: a man fires at Jerry Jackson John Kitzmiller, an African-American army sergeant, and then vanishes into the night. Angela signals the train to stop so Jerry can receive medical treatment, saving his life but drawing the attention of U.S. army officials. He recovers at a military camp, while Angela is detained and sent to a convent where other female refugees are held. One night, Angela holds a nun at gunpoint, and most of the women seize the chance to escape.
Angela and Marcella Giulietta Masina run off and arrive at Giacomo Folco Lulli's apartment, seeking safety and a new plan. The following morning, Pier Luigi Pierre Claudé appears on the docks, revealing a scheme to smuggle U.S. military supplies onto the black market. His men had tried to bribe Jerry into acting as an intermediary, but Jerry steadily refuses. He does, however, briefly reconnect with Angela and thanks her for saving his life. Angela asks about Carlo, but Pier Luigi hasn’t seen him. Jerry departs, promising to return.
That night, Jerry returns to see Angela, and they head to an amusement park. At a nearby café, a man named Baron Hoffman overhears their conversation and offers a palm reading. Hoffman notes a striking similarity in their hands, hinting at a fateful connection between them. They leave the café and accept a ride from Pier Luigi. He tells Jerry he can’t keep supporting Angela, and warns that she could be pulled toward a life of desperation. A tense deal follows: Jerry agrees to transport the goods for Pier Luigi’s men the next morning, but he is promptly arrested.
Angela learns of Jerry’s arrest and meets with Pier Luigi at the docks, where he cruelly tells her that Carlo is dead. Devastated, she throws herself into a river and falls ill with a fever, under the care of Marcella. She recovers and is taken, with several others, to a nightclub.
Determined to reunite with Angela, Jerry plans a risky escape from the prison camp with his Army friend Richard. The escape succeeds, but Richard is shot dead in the attempt. At the nightclub, Angela pleads with Pier Luigi to help a friend, Dina, who was left behind. Outside, Dina is fatally struck by a transport truck.
Angela returns to Pier Luigi’s apartment and finds Jerry there. The next morning, Marcella has arranged a pathway to immigrate to the United States, and she sails away from the beach. Angela finally reunites with Jerry on the shore, longing to run away together. Gunfire erupts nearby, forcing Jerry to hide. Angela seeks further help from Pier Luigi, who refuses, and she overhears that he is meeting with a captain to smuggle goods worth 4 million lira tomorrow night. With renewed resolve, Angela meets with Jerry, hiding at a police station, and they pool their resources to finance an escape.
The plan comes to a head as Jerry grips Pier Luigi and Giacomo at gunpoint and commandeers their transport truck to seize the money. Meanwhile, Angela prays at a cathedral as Jerry arrives with the cash. They step outside, only to be held at gunpoint by one of Pier Luigi’s men. Angela is shot from a distance, and Pier Luigi reclaims the money. Jerry cradles her body onto the truck and promises never to leave her. As he drives away, the truck hurtles off a cliff while military police inspect the wreckage, leaving the fate of Angela and Jerry shrouded in the smoke of gunfire and the echo of broken promises.
