In a rural village in the early 1900s, two young men in love, Toivo and Aarne, spend their summers swimming in lakes and reading poetry. But the approaching autumn means Aarne's departure days away for university and the desire of Toivo's father to send his own son to a distant village as a ring, jeopardising the lovers' plans for a reunion.

Comrades Weber and Max find themselves in the middle of a communist revolution planned by students in Turku. Internal conflicts within the movement and an ongoing general strike complicate the execution of the plan, but the leader's faith remains unshaken.

In 1938, Finland is slowly coming out of a recession. Large amounts of nickel have been found from Petsamo in Lapland and a mine is underway. Dreaming of a new life, metal worker Eino Forsell and his family head there for a new beginning.