At first glance this movie seems as though it will be about worker conditions and struggles— not an unusual subject for Italian films of the era—but instead those issues are backgrounded in favor of a rather frustrating culture-clash romance. Giuliano Gemma is the Milanese factory laborer who falls in love with Stefania Sandrelli as a migrant from Sicily who also works there.
This film is a historical document of the living conditions of the workers from southern Italy that emigrated to the north of the country to work in the industries in Milan. The film gives a good idea of the north-south mentality clash in Italy.