Middle August in Athens. Three families, living in a three storey building, leave for their summer vacations. Everyone is wishing for a miracle to happen this summer. In the meantime, a drifter breaks into their apartments and rummages their personal belongings, thus unfolding hidden secrets.
In the casino there is only one queen, the small ball that spins on the roulette table. None of the players pays the slightest attention to the female dealers. But Takis, a «perennial» med student, doesn't go to the casino to win millions but to earn a day's wages. Vera works in a gym but trains and gets a second job as a dealer. Her aim is to protect her mother since regulations forbid relatives of employees from entering the casino. Let her Dad knock himself out. There's no way he'll ever play roulette again! At some point, Takis and Vera become lovers. They rig a game at the roulette table, leave the money with her mother and hide out in a friend's house, where their romantic dream soon succumbs to the wretched conditions in which they live. When her father dies of a heart attack in his Jeep, Vera suddenly finds herself with money. At the funeral, the manager of the casino threatens to send her to prison...
Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945). Cefalonia (Grecia), 1940. El doctor Iannis (John Hurt) vive en las afueras del pueblo con su hija y alumna Pelagia (Penélope Cruz), la prometida de Mandras (Bale), un pescador que participa en la contienda contra los italianos. Pasan los meses y Pelagia no recibe respuesta a las numerosas cartas que le ha enviado a su novio. Cuando el ejército italiano ocupa Cefalonia, los soldados, que se toman su estancia en la isla como unas vacaciones de verano, se ganan muy pronto la confianza de los nativos, gracias a su alegría, su música y sus ganas de vivir. A cambio de suministros médicos, el doctor Iannis acepta alojar en su casa al capitán Corelli (Nicolas Cage), un hombre lleno de amor por la vida, por la música y por Pelagia..
