Based on the story of the same name by Marin Preda. The movie tells about the struggle of poor peasants against the rural rich for the creation of collective farming.

Follows the inner transformation of a man who tried to fight his demon, the love for money, and lost.

An engine driver is taken prisoner in 1944 and ends up in a camp behind enemy lines. He escapes together with a soviet prisoner and a professor and make their way back to Romania.