The invention of the first modern robot for table tennis training turns Ionel Sporea into a star in the world of Romanian sports. A trip to Moscow, however, ends with a harsh sentence: 12 years in prison for treason. Who is to blame: destiny, the Ceausescu regime, or himself?

Based on the story of the same name by Ion Creanga, Ivan Turbinca is an old soldier to whom - for a good deed he does - God grants him a wish. Ivan prays to God to bless his whirlpool, so that he has the power to put and keep in it whatever he wishes. "Pasol na turbina ciorti!" are the words Ivan uses to put devils in his whirlpool, tricking even Death, keeping her prisoner in his whirlpool.