It is 1945 in Zagreb, and everyone is settling into the new regime following the disturbances of the war. Matilda is a wealthy widow of a war hero and has an apartment so spacious that she is required to take a boarder. Fortunately for her, the handsome young Lt. Horvat, the communist housing officer, has taken a fancy to her and has assigned his fiancee to be Matilda's new roommate. Where Matilda is soft and rounded, Lilijana is hard, skinny, and given to revolutionary pronouncements rather than tender endearments. The lieutenant loves them both, though he naturally finds Matilda more attractive. His situation is simplified when Lilijana, though pregnant, is transferred to another post. However, his commander is horrified that he has a lover in addition to his fiancee and demands that he choose whether to continue his career or continue his affair.

Maria lives with his son Darko in a Croatian village that is attacked by Serbian Chetniks one night. They manage to escape and hide in a nearby town, where Maria takes a job at the laundry and Darko joins the Croatian Defenders, leading to tragedy.