The movie takes place in the early 18th century on the borders between Bosnia and Dalmatia, the crossroad between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice. It deals with issues relating to the region's native Croats as they struggle between to live between two empires and two faiths: Catholicism and Islam.

The film is set in mid-16th century, at a time when the entire eastern Mediterranean is dominated by two great empires, the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, with the small but wealthy maritime republic of Ragusa (modern-day Dubrovnik) managing to maintain its independence through diplomatic agreements.

After a series of unfortunate events, TV subscription collector Pero falls into a deep emotional crisis from which he cannot escape. His only goal is - spiritual peace and, if possible - revenge. People he holds responsible are randomly chosen citizens of the Pusca Bistra village. After he accidently finds out certain facts, Pero finds irrefutable evidence about unhonorable acts of Pusca's citizens and accidently blackmails the entire village.

After Liptus arrives in a small village from the city, he calls his best friends, Miron and Melita, on winter holidays in Kopacevo. That same night, while they are all sleeping cozily, from their deep sleep Miron and Melita are woken by the disturbing sounds of villagers, carrying flares and disappearing into the darkness at the end of the street. At the docks, they find Halasz, a boy known for his bravery. He is cold, pale from shock, and babbling a white ghost. While most of the villagers don't believe Halasz's story, older citizens recall a long time ago when a forgotten spirit would scare people at night in dark and foggy swamps. Everyone locks themselves in their houses and Halasz ends up in a hospital where the doctors can't help him. Miron, Liptus, and Melita, now alone, take matters into their own hands, revealing the secret of the ghost and saving their friend.

Ilija is a member of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) somewhere in Central Bosnia in late 1993. One morning, after a routine mine laying campaign, he learns his younger brother Goran was killed far beyond enemy lines, together with eight other soldiers. Through a friend from the secret service, he finds out the mission was an unofficial one and that Goran and the others were acting as mercenaries. Ilija begins to expose a network of illegal activity involving not only the military, but high-ranking officials. As the investigation becomes more dangerous, his original intention to find out the truth slowly turns into a pathological mission of vengeance.

A story involving a group of traveling actors who perform at an experimental prison where the thieves have first class comforts provided to them by a reformist warden. Ironically the troupe performs a play named The State Thief, a play about thieves for thieves.

An obscure actor is hired by the police to get a confession out of a dying mafioso.

At the beginning of 1991, Yugoslav army did not acknowledge Croatian's independence, and still holding few military barracks in Croatia. Gajski travels to an island to get his son out of the army. Locals have besieged the barracks and organized a festival to try with singing and recitals to get major Aleksa and his soldiers to surrender, but Aleksa has explosives thru the barracks and wants to blow up the island.

The film is set over the course of a New Year's Eve night in the Croatian port city of Split, where it follows three parallel plots. The first plot line features a small-time drug dealer Nike (Marinko Prga) and a young widow Marija (Nives Ivankovic); the second plot line deals with a drug addict called Maja (Marija Skaricic) who decides to have sex with an US Navy sailor called Franky (Coolio) in exchange for some heroin; the third one shows a young couple, Luka and Andela (Vicko Bilandzic and Ivana Roscic) who spend the night desperately looking for a place to celebrate the New Year by having their first sexual experience. The plots are connected through Dino Dvornik's concert, where all of them pass through at some point, and through the omnipresent fireworks that dot the night sky over the course of the film.

Djuro is a Romany, he has a large, happy family, and earns a living appearing in Serbian porn films. And it's through his sarcastic perspective that we follow the story of the Croatian war veteran Martin. He falls in love with a beautiful girl who plays Little Red Riding Hood in a porn version of the fairy tale. She is also a prostitute. To be with her, Martin has to buy her from her pimp. A tragicomic story of love in a world where it seems all human values are put up for sale or destined for cynical destruction