 A ruthless Neapolitan land developer and elected city councilman, Edoardo Nottola (Rod Steiger), manages to use political power to make personal profit in a large scale suburban real estate deal.However, after the collapse of a residential building, the Communist councilman De Vita (Carlo Fermariello) initiates an inquiry on Nottola's possible connection to the accident.The film won the Golden Lion award of the Venice Film Festival in 1963.