The first of five Rossellini films to star Ingrid Bergman, Stromboli was created, according to its director, to illustrate that "one of the toughest lessons from [World War II] is the danger of aggressive egotism." The film paints a desolate portrait of a spoiled wartime Baltic refugee named Karin (Bergman). As a means of escape, she marries a poor fisherman, only to discover that he makes his home on the slope of an active volcano. Karin’s constant haughtiness and inability to acquiesce lead her to travel across the unstable island alone. Volcanic smoke and steam constantly reshape what the audience sees, transforming the film—and ultimately Karin—at every turn. Rossellini’s lush ending, with its subtly choreographed movements and sunlit compositions, reveals Karin’s final epiphany about herself and her future.