Francesco Rosi takes up a theme already mined by Elio Petri: political intrigue among officials who plot assassinations and ruthlessly suppress dissent in Italy. An inspector is given the job of investigating the deaths of a number of officials, and he slowly begins to confirm the existence of a vast conspiracy. The conspirators, including an official played by Max von Sydow, are fanatically committed to using the resources of the State in order to crush any political opposition. Only slowly does the extent of the conspiracy become clear, and the exact nature and implications of the right-wing attempt to subvert the State from within, while apparently defending it.