The story of an aging writer who bitterly recollects his passionate, lost youth. A portrait of today's Rome.

Rome, in the splendour of summer. Jep Gambardella — a handsome man with irresistible charm despite his advancing age — enjoys the city’s social life to the fullest. He attends chic dinners and parties where his sparkling wit is always welcome. A successful journalist, in his youth he wrote a novel that earned him a literary award and a reputation as a frustrated writer. Weary of his lifestyle, Jep sometimes dreams of taking up his pen again, haunted by memories of a youthful love which he still hangs on to. But can he overcome his profound disgust for himself and others in a city whose dazzling beauty sometimes leads to creative paralysis?