This movie is a screen adaptation of the eponymous play by Horia Lovinescu. It follows a "bourgeois" family as it copes with the emerging communist regime. Different members of the family take different paths.

The Nazi troops are retreating from Romania. On a wester town, they have to be held back until some strategic trains can leave the train station.

A judge falls in love with a married woman.

A fashion designer creates an ugly model and he won't back down against all advice.