Since the death of her younger brother, Martina has stopped talking, and this makes her the object of her peers' ridicule, however her observations are profound.
World War II arrives, with the increasingly intrusive presence of German soldiers and squads of partisans.
They carry out a ferocious roundup, to be remembered as the "Marzabotto massacre": old people, women and children are murdered after they are herded into cemeteries, churches and farmhouses.
After the massacre is complete, she returns to the family cottage, where she cares for her brother by singing a lullaby, regaining her speech.
The credits state that the characters and the events of the film are fictional, while the historical background (the massacre of Monte Sole/Marzabotto) is real.