A bricklayer, Jozef Haviar, decides to live with his family on the small farm of his father through the difficult years of the economic crisis. But on his return to his father's house he gets into a conflict with his brother. The life-and-death conflict between the two brothers documents the difficult situation of Slovak country life in the 1930s, the time of economic depression.

The tragic story of a village fool - hussar Ondráš Machuľa, who became a victim of a fabled love for a pretty farm girl, Zuzka Bezanova.