Based on the memoir by Emilio Lussu, Un anno sull'altopiano, Francesco Rosi depicts the harsh brutality and chaotic devastation of World War I. The horrific inhumanities, dreadful anxieties, and brutally harsh conditions of the trench realities. The movie begins on the Italian/Austrian front. A disastrous Italian attack upon the Austrian positions leads to a mutiny among the decimated Italian troops. The film was screened at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in honor of Francesco Rosi, who had died a few weeks before.