Rome, 1944. Giuseppe and Pasquale, two young boys who work as shoe shiners (known as “shushas” due to the phonetic similarity to the English word “shoeshine”), dream of buying a horse named Bersalere and engage in various schemes to achieve this goal. They sell stolen American blankets to a clairvoyant and, without knowing it, participate in a scheme set up by three older boys (including Giuseppe’s younger brother) to rob a client. Giuseppe and Pasquale buy their beloved horse, but they are arrested and sent to a correctional facility. It is a real prison with cells and lice, where many children await trial…