As a child, Sicilian Placido Rizzotto saw his father imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, and as a young man he fought in World War II, first as a soldier and then as an anti-fascist partisan. These events have left Placido with little taste for petty tyranny and with a desire to promote social justice. Upon his return home, he becomes increasingly aware that the Mafia has taken hold of his village, witnessing angry and frustrated as gangsters control local politics and take whatever they want from the people. Placido helps to form a trade union as a challenge to the Mafia's authority, and attempts to organize the villagers into a collective to grow crops in the fields taken by the Mafia.
Marcello Mazzarella
as Placido Rizzotto
Vincenzo Albanese
as Luciano Liggio
Carmelo Di Mazzarelli
as Carmelo Rizzotto
Gioia Spaziani
as Lia
Franco Catalano
as Giovanni Pasqua
Biagio Barone
as Pasquale Criscione
Arturo Todaro
as Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
David Coco
as Pio La Torre
Antonello Collesano
as Tom
Matteo Barbera
as Bino
Caterina Di Francesca
as Madre di Placido
Liliana Abbene
as Madre di Lia
