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.
Placido Rizzotto

Luciano Liggio

Carmelo Rizzotto

Lia

Giovanni Pasqua
Pasquale Criscione

Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Pio La Torre

Tom
Bino
Madre di Placido
Madre di Lia
Saro
Pastore

Michele Navarra

Peppino Palermo
Siragusa
Antonio Rizzotto
Placido bambino
Benigno