Twin brothers separated in childhood lead very different lives.

In June, 1945, Enrico, a struggling journalist in Rome, receives a phone call from his newspaper office in Florence informing him of his brother Lorenzo's death. Enrico's thoughts return to the years before World War I: When their mother dies bearing Lorenzo and their father is hospitalized from war wounds, both boys are reared by their grandmother until Lorenzo is adopted by the butler of a wealthy Englishman. Enrico is raised in poverty and Lorenzo in comfort until 1935, when the brothers are reunited. Lorenzo has argued with the butler, who can no longer provide for him since his employer's death. A poor student but accustomed to a gentleman's life, Lorenzo knows no profession and is unfit for the struggle of life. Enrico tries to help him, although he has his own problems and wishes to improve himself. The brothers grow fond of each other and frequently visit their grandmother in a home for the elderly. Enrico contracts tuberculosis and is placed in a sanitarium; when he is released, he finds Lorenzo's situation unimproved. After the death of their grandmother, Enrico leaves Florence to accept a position as a journalist in Rome, while Lorenzo marries and becomes a father; but misfortunes continue to plague him. He develops an intestinal infection and enters a hospital in Rome for treatment, but his condition worsens, and Enrico moves him to a private clinic. When it becomes obvious that Lorenzo is dying, Enrico arranges to have him returned to Florence to see his wife and child once more. The next day, as Enrico is preparing to join his brother, he is informed of Lorenzo's death.