First-class performances, sore-eyes scenery and solid production values all enhance this incidental study of a disappearing way of life. Widowed hill farmer Gildo is the proud owner of a cow which strays onto the land of rival farmer, brutish Severo. A bizarre misunderstanding over an ancient farming law ends with Severo kidnapping Gildo's older daughter Val, who's taken over the running of the family following her mother's death. Gildo comes looking for his daughter, and in the ensuing struggle, Severo is killed. Gildo's younger daughter Genia, a student and wannabe belly dancer, spends much of pic unaware of the truth. Severo's hairdresser son Rai returns to the area to investigate his father's death. Gildo initially encourages Val to see him and find out how much he knows. But when Rai and Val start falling for one another, and when Val sees that a different life is possible other than the overwork she believes killed her mother, Gildo is suddenly less keen.