A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

An adult educator arrives in the small-town factory with loads of books, energy and a freshly received diploma. The honest young man with dreamy eyes humanises the life of the plant, in a way distributing himself among people.

Nagy István, the formerly poor peasant boy returns to his native village as a teacher. His conviction is that the abyss between rich and poor can be diminished by good will. The rich Böröcz Horváth Klári returns his love, and also Böröcz Horváth is willing to help the poorest family, the Bakos. Bakos Jóska, who was sent to serve the tough Böröcz Horváth as a payment, dies of an infected wound and the people in the village hold the teacher liable as well. Nagy István realises, that the abyss cannot be ceased, what is more, it is impassable. He breaks up with his fiancée and stands by the side of the poor.

1985. Hungary has elections for the first time since long where more than one candidate is allowed to run. The engineer Bodnár is the most popular man in the rural town, who has defended the microclimate of the neighbourhood against a harmful project. Before the elections he is also put on the list. Local power launches a fight against him,

Under pressure from his publisher, Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky gets work on his latest piece, 'Rouletenberg'. In the 27 days it takes for him to complete the novel reality and fiction become blurred; in this feverish atmosphere of excess Dostoyevsky's characters come to life as he struggles to complete his work.

In the final days of the American Civil War, an emigre Hungarian military officer attempts to map the situation of the enemy. Many veterans of the 1848 War of Independence in Hungary fought on the northern side. Experienced Fiala, Boldogh who struggles with homesickness and the reckless Vereczky all experience their enforced emigration in different ways and news of impending peace elicits different reactions from them all.

Bencsik Béla, the president of the co-operative of the village of Borsány promises home, jobs and good salaries for newcomer families to convince them to settle down. He wants to prevent the community from being depopulated and the co-operative from going bankrupt.

A priest arrives in a village and give advice and comfort to different people. He meets a wheelchair-bound former representative of the Communist party, a woman who is dying of tuberculosis and an astronomer who sings in a punk band.

The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century.