This heartbreaking movie focuses on a woman played by Sophia Loren and her lovely young daughter struggling to survive during World War II. Anxious to protect her daughter from the violence of the war, Loren takes her daughter back to the small village where she grew up. As she attempts to keep her daughter out of harm's way, the ravages of war take their toll on everyone around them and Loren begins to suspect that true safety may be only an illusion in this new war-torn reality.