In the yard of a foreign embassy in Bucharest, four men are digging in search of a gas leak from a pipe.

Neagu's father appears unexpectedly as he and his family prepare to leave for vacation. He is having an argument with his wife, so his father, feeling unwelcome, leaves. split between his family and his father, he tries to make the best of it.

In the 1950s, a party activist travels to rural Transylvania to collec collectivize village farms. A wealthy householder resists attempts to make him give up his wealth, refusing to be brought down to the level of those who have never worked. The concept of collectivization is summed up by an indignant villager who, forced to work the land he no longer owns, bombards the party activist who claims that the land is still his: "You cut off my p..., put it in my hand and said, 'take it, it's still yours'.

A breakdown occurs in a factory on the banks of the Danube and a ministerial team begins an investigation. Alexandru Nedelcu is the inspector who came to investigate and has the complicated mission of finding the truth.