The brilliant comedy focuses on the ideological crisis of the Italian left during the end of the two blocs, played out in the protagonist's loss of memory, a metaphor for the lost identity of the old Italian Communist Party.
Michele Apicella, an MP for the Italian Communist Party, is involved in a car accident and consequently loses his memory. Michele is also a player for the Monteverde water polo team; he joins the team on a trip to play an important match in Sicily, despite being uncertain of his own identity. The match lasts all day and well into the night, and throughout, Michele engages in conversations with various people, in an attempt to reconstruct his sense of self. It becomes apparent that earlier in the week, he had given a momentous speech, the content of which he cannot remember. Meanwhile, the game is about to be won by the opponents and Michele's team tries to come back to a draw. If only he could crack the last decisive shot: an insidious and parabolic 'palombella'.
"It seemed to me that the Italian Communist Party had a memory problem with respect to its own past. There was an attempt to forget its own past and to make others forget it: that is why the protagonist of the film has amnesia." (Nanni Moretti)