On an empty road, an old man is walking with his son. They meet a crow that can speak. They are changed into monks and Saint Francois sent them to preach for hawks and sparrows. A reflexion about idealism.
While strolling down the highway of life, a man and his son encounter a talking crow who asks them where they are going and what they are doing. When they are unable to answer, the crow launches into a philosophical discourse on conflicting social and political ideologies. As the loquacious bird prattles on, the man and his son become a monk and a young friar in the year 1200. They are met by St. Francis of Assisi who asks them to decipher the language of the birds so that they can bring them God's message of love. Although the old man succeeds in talking to and apparently converting the birds, he is disheartened when a hawk swoops down and devours a sparrow. Disillusioned, he reports to St. Francis and is told--in the words of Pope Paul VI at the United Nations--that they must teach all living things to love not only their own kind but all others as well. Returning to the present, the pair continue their journey. They trespass on private land to perform an urgent personal need and become involved in a battle with the landowner; they enact the roles of both oppressor and oppressed when they threaten a starving family with eviction and then in turn are confronted by a man demanding payment of a debt; they each fulfill another need by enjoying the favors of a roadside beauty; they witness the birth of a child and also attend the funeral of Palmiro Togliatti, head of the Italian Communist Party until his death in 1963. As the persistent crow continues to elaborate on his dialectic homilies, another need arises--hunger. Winking at each other, the man and his son grab the crow and make a meal of their would-be teacher. And, as they continue down the road of life, the question posed by the crow, "Where are you going?" remains unanswered.
