In the present, Domenico is describing his life in Rome to his audience. There are flashbacks to the reality of those times.

Saverio Marconi talks about the job of an actor. Nanni Moretti tells of an embarrassing moment on the set of a movie he was making with the Taviani brothers. Vittorio and Paolo Taviani talk about why they shot Caesar Must Die in black and white.

Domenico begins recounting his second (and best) year at the Experimental Center in Rome. One reason it was his best year is that he met a very special person.

The Taviani brothers, at around eighty years of age, feel like they have gone back to their more reckless early days, with Caesar Must Die.

Domenico happens to get a glimpse of Vittorio De Sica himself and chases him down to ask him for a part.

Nanni Moretti tells about how he got to see Caesar Must Die before it was released. The composer, Giuliano Taviani talks about how he became interested in writing music for film, and how budget limits actually inspired him in writing the music for this movie.

De Sica is generous with Domenico. Later on, seated on the curb with his friend, Domenico borrows a guitar from a "blind" person nearby and sings a song he wrote.

Music plays an essential role in the films of the Taviani brothers. It's like having another actor. Composer Nicola Piovani knows something about this having worked with them on some of their movies. He also composed the soundtrack for the movie La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful) with Roberto Benigni.

Domenico gets a small role in a movie where he has to sing a child to sleep. He then tries his luck in a singing contest. He also seems to be getting some attention from some women...

Music and sound have major roles in the movies of the Taviani brothers. Notably, the tarantella from Allonsanfàn, written by Ennio Morricone, was also used by Tarantino in one of his movies, and that's when it became famous.

Mimmo is discouraged about getting rejected at the radio station, and Riccardo gives him some criticism. Franca has a different opinion. The students get together to celebrate the end of their two-year program at the Experimental Center.

We learn about the ideas behind the movies, Father and Master and The Night of the Shooting Stars, and how music played a major role in both movies.

Domenico keeps telling his story, fast-forwarding a bit, and focuses on when he got a new place to live with his friends helping him, and meeting up with Franca again.

The Taviani brothers were adolescents during World War II, and talk about how tense it was growing up with the Germans and fascists so close by. A woman at a bar gives them directions to find one of the locations for filming The Night of the Shooting Stars.

Domenico isn't very adept at keeping his emotions, including jealousy, in check, and at the dinner party, he allows them to get the better of him. But there are all kinds of people at that party, and they aren't all against him.