Set in Naples, Rosi's native city, this panoramic and probing film investigates the connections between the physical structure of the metropolis and the invisible structure of power, and reveals the rotten foundations of both. Promising “all profit and no risk,” developer Edoardo Nottola (Rod Steiger) unveils a plan to build high-rises on a barren plateau, with the blessing of the city government of which Nottola conveniently happens to be a member. But the fatal collapse of a tenement building forces a recalculation of risks and a realignment of allegiances in which ideology, let alone morality, seems to be the last thing on many councilmembers' minds. Dynamically shifting focus between surface textures-decaying walls, Steiger's skin-and the broader view, Rosi finds drama in bureaucratic detail as well as in the vehement debates enacted by the cast, many of whom were engaged in real-life politics: “after I called ‘Cut,' they continued arguing,” he said.