The movie depicts the harsh realities of coal mining workers in a Moravian city (Ostrava).

Silvestr Blažek loses his job, but he doesn't lose heart. He also courts the saleswoman Boženka Straková. The driver of the builder Herold, Karel Verner, is also interested in the girl. Boženka is the daughter of Narcis Straka, a man with a mysterious past. However, Herold's father-in-law Jakub Suldovský recognizes him as an old friend from Vienna, where they both loved the same woman....

Juraj Hordubal returns from America after eight years, where he has earned enough money to improve his farm. However, his daughter Hafia does not recognize him and his wife Polana does not show any joy at his return. Štěpán Manya has been a farmhand on the farm all these years, and people claim that he has become Polana's lover. Juraj denies the accusations and believes that his wife's distance from him is only due to the long separation...

The troubled situation of a provincial actor and his actress wife who come to the city. The actor is suspected of attacking another actor who admires the actress.