Set in 1940 with the backdrop of the Second World War, Il Comandante is a story of courage, valour and difficult choices. Salvatore Todaro is a Navy commander with destiny inscribed to his name, heading the submarine Cappellini despite an accident that would entitle him to a disability pension (as his wife Rina would like him to). But Commander Todaro does not know how to stay away from choppy waters. In October 1940, while sailing in the Atlantic, in the darkness of the night a merchant ship sailing with its lights off suddenly opens fire on the Cappellini. A brief but violent battle ensues which sees Todaro sinking the enemy ship. Then the commander makes a historic decision: to rescue the twenty-six Belgian castaways, as required by the law of the sea. To take them aboard, he is forced to make himself visible to enemy forces and risk his own life and that of his men.