The film depicts interconnected lives of various characters in South Vietnam in and after the war: a young girl (Mai) who lost her father (Hau)- a Viet Cong cadre; a woman (Nam) whose deceased husband is a South Vietnamese soldier has feelings for Hau and is trying to protect his daughter; a depressive man (Luong) who used to fight with Nam's husband has strong resentment towards his old army.

When a post-war fishing firm fails to meet its expected demand, the chief accountant begins falsifying records and cutting down on wages paid to the already struggling fishers.

In the years following the American war a young woman from Hanoi teaches in a rural school in the south. There she meets a troubled young man, and they have a brief romance that she recalls wistfully years later in her unhappy marriage.