Summary: Marcello has just been hired to work for Mussolini as a spy. This also makes him a fascist. In order to make him more of a conformist he also marries Giulia. On his honeymoon to Paris he is to carry out an order of eliminating someone who is considered anti-fascist. A professor has fled Italy in retaliation of the new government with his wife, and they don't like the scene he is stirring. Once arriving there though Marcello finds himself falling for the professor's wife making the task a bit more difficult. The professor and his wife are also aware of his fascist ways, but they continue to trust him. Intertwined with flashbacks, the story conveys where Marcello's violence began along with it's ties in sexuality.
