10½

Back in his village, former war prisoner Bruno Baldi is dead set on avenging his brother who has been shot by a German firing squad after being given away by a villager. But nobody wants to give him the name of the culprit. At long last, Antonio, a joiner, reveals the informer but this comes at a cost.

1937, during the spanish civil war, at Teruel. The fight of the Republicans (with very poor means but high commitment) against fascist army of General Franco. Can be seen as romanticized witness of director and writer Andre Malraux, who joined the Republicans in 1936.

A grenade fired from a nearby hill kills the parents of a ten year old Serb boy during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992. The Boy looses his ability to speak. A lady neighbor adopts and takes care of him. The Boy is thrown out from his destroyed apartment and begins to prowl around the city with a schoolmate. Too early and too soon, he goes through the process of growing up. He learns the meanings of such words as force, death, sex. He learns how to achieve. He learns about the values. He learns what matters the most. The Lady neighbor that takes care of him tries to shelter him and protect him. Unsuccessfully. The Boy rides to fall. Death and suffering become more frequent, and more severe. When the Lady neighbor's teenage son is killed by a sniper as a collateral damage, she then rejects the Boy. The Boy escapes the siege, and shoots from a cannon at the city. Fifteen years later, the Boy - now twenty five - and the Lady neighbor meet again. They are united in pain and suffering.

In the Life of Music, a story told in three chapters, tells of how one song 'Champa Battambang,' made famous by Sinn Sisamuth (the King of Khmer Music), plays a role in the lives of three different generations.

A widow raises her sickly son to be strong enough to join the army and fight on the front lines.

In 1930s, Wu Qionghua was a housemaid of Nan-ba-tian, a cruel warlord of a village in Hainan Island, China. Often abused by her master, Qionghua was finally rescued by Hong Changqing, leader of the Red Detachment of Women - a troop of women soldiers. She joined the troop and became the Detachment leader after the death of Hong. They captivated and executed the warlord and liberated Qionghua's home village.