To save their cash-strapped orphanage, a guardian and his kids partner with a washed-up boat captain for a chance to win a lucrative fishing competition.

The story of the year the Oxford and Cambridge boat race changed from a gentleman's race to one where winning was everything.

Naples. A Virgin with bruise on her cheek who performs miracles. Three female characters, each connected to the Virgin in their own way but who never meet. Giusy, a girl in a wheelchair who had no right to a miracle; an atheist, free-spirited, and an anthropologist specializing in the worship of the Virgin Mary. Fabiana, a transsexual at the head of a troupe faithful supporters of the Virgin in a popular district of the city center. And Sue, a Korean pianist in search of a new direction for her life, teaching music to children in difficulty in a city far removed from her original culture. Each with their intimate wounds and each searching for a "miracle".