On a festive spring day in 1940, two young quan họ singers fall in love. But their relationship is soon ruthlessly disrupted by class injustices, imposed upon both—and many other Vietnamese—by the ongoing French colonial rule and the looming Japanese occupation.

A petty criminal plans to take revenge on the neighbour who he believes to have reported him to the police.

Two talented swimmers from a small village are invited by a factory to compete for their team in national tournaments, but soon discover they are being used as a publicity ploy by the factory.

A director pays a visit to a hydroelectric plant construction site and gives a grandiose speech on the impending glory of its opening. His exaggerated body language soon becomes a running gag among the workers who pass around the rumour that he might have dropped the diamond ring during the speech, which the director ironically - and wholeheartedly- believes.