The Mediterranean is a meeting ground where men who found and blend civilisations fight and reconcile. Ali Raïs is one of those men. He is a pirate armed by the Bey of Tunis. In 1624, his fleet is captured by the “Marquis of Santa Cruz” and he is made prisoner with his crew in Palermo. A number of Italian witnesses recognise him and denounce him to the Inquisition as a renegade, a charge punished by burning at stake. Ali attempts to change the course of the trial. He denies ever having been a Christian and claims he is a Muslim born from a Muslim family. One Lorenzo Amico, inquisition informer, quotes the name of Captain Defendi Massarolo whose testimony nails Ali Raïs. We learn that Ali Rais is none other than Francesco Gucciardino, a sailor Massarolo enrolled 19 years before. He comes across this same Gucciardino, much later under the guise of a Tunisian pirate named Ali Raïs. Ali Raïs uses all the tricks he can. He fasts Ramadan while the court believes he is on a hunger strike. They fear he will die and grant him several privileges among which the services of a Moorish slave of the name of Zufo, who will act as a cook and personal interpreter.

The court inquest continues and they finally find traces of Gucciardino’s family in the diocese of Ferrara. They even manage to come up with his baptism certificate. From then on, Ali Raïs is doomed. He is fated to end up on the pyre, but he never confesses. Exasperated, he demands death. The tailor, Lorenzo Amico whose status as an informer ensures him many privileges, is set on nailing Ali Raïs. During the entire film, we see him manufacturing a very particular tunic. It is only at the end of the film that we understand that he has been anticipating on the verdict by making the “sanbenito”, an infamous tunic which the convict has to wear on the day of his execution and on which are painted the main facts of his life. The moment the cloth starts burning, Ali sees his whole life going up in smoke..