Anni, the daughter of the Heikkilä family, is forced by her father to give up her plans to marry her beloved farmhand, Matti Väliportti. Anni's life becomes a struggle when her father's choice of husband for her, Toivo Erkkilä, turns out to be a violent alcoholic.

Set in Southern Finland between 1912 and 1936. Due to his father's drunkenness, high school student Jussi Raala has lost his inheritance, the manor house and the sawmill, to the gunman Lumia. Bitter and vengeful, Jussi decides to get the property back.

After Matti is stabbed to death at his own wedding, Eero of Ojelmiston becomes a suspect, presumed to have avenged his recently deceased wife. Eero escapes with the help of a court judge but surrenders after his mother gets into trouble. At the courthouse, the priest admits that Vieremä Jaska confessed to the crime on his deathbed. The film has survived, but without subtitles.