Skid-row epic about a lawyer's decline.

The problem of companionship marriages , i.e. marriages determined by purely practical rather than emotional motives, is addressed with all its pros and cons using two relationships . The four protagonists are the student Erich Helmholz and his wife Elli, a seamstress, both a happily married but not in love couple, and the consultant's daughter Maria, who comes from the best "stable" and who, in her ignorance, first allows herself to be impregnated by any man (without really understanding how this could have happened) and then, under pressure from her horrified parents, enters into a companionship marriage with another man who has brilliant career prospects.

Oldrich is the runt of his village, beaten by his father, bullied by the other boys. But he has imagination on his side, and a wiry toughness they can’t defeat. The village is in turmoil, because the Nazi occupiers have just retreated and the Red Army is advancing. Oldrich dodges amid the mayhem and panic, taking his share of blows but always managing to stay one step ahead.

Disillusioned with his marriage which has ended in divorce, Petr Leroy goes off to the Riviera to the place where he first met his wife and where he hopes to be spiritually revived. Here he meets his friend Jan and together they enjoy the joys the Riviera has to offer. Jan meets a charming girl at the casino and he takes her off into the mountains. On his return he speaks of the beautiful Olga with whom he has spent a wonderful three days. Olga, however, does not appear for a meeting they had arranged, so Jan goes to look for her in the mountains. Then he sees her in a village and tries to catch up with her in his car. He has an accident. Olga takes him to the nearest sanatorium where everyone behaves very strangely to the newly-arrived patient.