A rich vision of the pain, loveliness, mystery, and promise of New York City in the 1970s. A radical young Irish monk struggles with his own demons as he lives among the prostitutes in the middle of the burning Bronx. A group of mothers gather in a Park Avenue apartment to mourn their sons who died in Vietnam, only to discover just how much divides them even in grief. A young artist finds herself at the scene of a hit-and-run that sends her own life...

Although Henry the cat learns tightrope walking only to impress the humans in his family, who have stopped paying attention to him because of their new puppy, his skill comes in handy when the puppy gets stranded on a high ledge.

When Filofilo the circus acrobat loses his balance on the tightrope, an inept saint in Heaven comes to his aid in ways that are more harmful than helpful.