Eye of the Cat

The time is the mid-14th century --- the Pope is now residing at Avignon, the Black Death is killing millions across Europe, and civil wars are adding to the turmoil and chaos. In this story adapted from Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron, a young teenage couple is sent to live in a nearby town by the man's uncle, in an attempt to keep them safe from harm. She is from the lower classes, and he comes from a noble family -- a family that opposes his choice of a future bride. While en route to the town, the couple's horses are stolen and they are forced to continue through the forest on foot -- at a pace that introduces them to a kaleidoscope of Boccaccio's characters, from masters of mysticism, to soldiers of the warring Papal armies. Somehow, the couple manage to get through this gauntlet of sorts, and they do marry. Just as they are ready to go back to Rome, they hear that there is an insurrection in the offing, and suddenly, their brief spate of stability is threatened again.

Tango blu is a night club in Milan where various bizarre characters meet. Among them a womanizing photographer and a porter who works in a slaughterhouse.

Hoping to avoid the fate of his anti-Fascist father, an Italian leaves his community to marry a nobleman's daughter.

In a straightforward yet unexceptional rendering of the life and loves of Alberto (Ben Gazzara), a writer/director approaching the hill though not yet over it, director Alberto Bevilacqua has used his own experiences to fashion a conventional tale about a search for the "perfect woman." His mettlesome neighbor Luisa (Lina Sastri) just will not leave him alone; she was the reason why he ended his marriage to Maura (Claudia Cardinale), but Alberto considers their affair dead and buried. Recently, an anonymous "dream woman" has been calling him for some seductive phone exchanges. As he searches out the identity of the mystery caller he is also distracted by Luisa who starts to insinuate herself back into his affections. Sooner or later, Alberto will just have to decide how to handle his love life, which in the end may only be mesmerizing to himself alone.

La Califfa's husband was killed during the strikes so she takes the side of the strikers. Her conflict with the plant owner Doverdo gradually turns into a love relationship.

In Parma, conversing with a CSM judge from Rome, the judge Bocchi tells what intrigues are hidden behind the beautiful and charming facade of the city, referring in detail to the latest and most 'chatted episode. It begins when Bocchi interrogates Giulio, a handsome and unassuming young man, for reasons of strangling, and invites him to collaborate with justice.