The theme of the film is the Battle of Somosierra, which took place during the Napoleonic Wars. During this battle, Polish cavalrymen under the command of Jan Leon Kozietulski crossed a two-and-a-half kilometre long gorge and a pass within 7 minutes, paving the way for Napoleon Bonaparte's troops to Madrid

September 13, 1944. On the right bank of the Vistula, a group of young people is getting ready to cross to help the fighting Warsaw. Tadeusz, a young poet with amputated legs meets Katarzyna. Two officers of the Home Army and the AL, Polish and Soviet soldiers come here. A fight ensues with the Nazis trying to get out of the encirclement. Katarzyna is raped by one of them in front of the powerless Tadeusz. . . Two boats are sinking crossing the Vistula. Tadeusz falls into the river with a wheelchair ...

A mysterious Mania appears in Warsaw. The girl, together with the other children, experiences amazing adventures.

In 1943, a drunk cook is mistaken for a secret agent and sent on a special mission from London to Nazi-occupied Poland.

Two men in a game of chess. One of the players is a country boy who accidentally discovered a chess talent, and the other is a former lawyer who has not played chess for twenty years. The lawyer tells the story of learning to play chess: during World War II, he was arrested for no reason and imprisoned. One day, while waiting for another interrogation, he stole the book "Chess Review" from the investigating officer's coat. He perfected it for several months and started playing against himself. The intense mental effort led him to a nervous breakdown eventually...

Fall 1925. Six hundred officers demonstrate in front of Józef Piłsudski’s country house in Sulejówek, demanding the Marshal’s return to active political life. May 1926—a government crisis; Wincenty Witos forms a new government. Piłsudski’s move sparks clashes between supporters and opponents of the ousted government. Piłsudski appoints Kazimierz Bartel as prime minister. The beginning of the “moral reform.” Ignacy Mościcki becomes president. Summer 1930. A joint platform of opponents to the Sanacja government is formed. “Centrolew” is established.

Peter and Eliza are vacationing in the Mazury region. After an argument with her boyfriend, the girl leaves him and goes away. Meanwhile, Eliza's father Jul, a sculptor, organizes a reunion of former members of the student theater in which he performed years ago.

Stefan Starzyński, the mayor of Warsaw, organizes life in the capital in September 1939 and lift the inhabitants' spirits via radio announcements. After the surrender, he does not use his last chance to escape.

A film biography of Jarosław Dąbrowski, a Russian officer, Polish independence activist, and communist.