In 1947 by the Beskid mountains, the traces of war still linger, destroyed tanks dispersed throughout the farmland creating an eerie backdrop. This film follows a ten-year-old boy and the strange visions he encounters, his world of fantasy exacerbated with ample time, space, and a lack of companionship or guidance. We see the adults that influence and dominate his life, for better or for worse. Surreal and packed with an excellent study of human emotions and motivations compounded by their rural, isolated vacuum of a town, this is a timeless and severely underrated film from a brilliant Czech director.

Placek (Josef Kemr), the head of research in a chemical plant, appreciates the help of his younger colleague Bernát (Alois Svehlík) in the creation of a new synthetic material.

The Francs with their daughters Olina and Jirina are building a villa in the village of Rezkovice. Father Franc (Vladimír Mensík) doesn't allow himself a minute's respire and restlessly forces to work his wife, both daughters and Zdenek, Jirina's suitor. Zdenek does not protest against it and, in addition, he is skillful. On the contrary, Olina's boyfriend Libor is worse at work. He studies at the Technical College and he does not succeed much in grasping the building handicraft. Franc, proud of his pursuits, decides that he will arrange the wedding for both daughters and then hand them over the key of the villa in which both pairs have luxuriously furnished flats.

Carefree young nurse Marta learns upon her husband's death that he was involved in all manner of criminal activity, which puts her life in danger.

Leo Popper is a happy family man living in rural Bohemia in the years preceding the Nazi invasion. Out of economic necessity he moves with his family to the big city and becomes an enterprising vacuum cleaner salesman. There he embarks on a series of adulterous adventures, has encounters with boxing pros and famous portrait artists, and schemes to purchase the perfect pond to fulfill his passion for fishing. When the Nazis gain control, the comedy turns sour - he loses his lake, his job, and finally, his family.