The film is set in Transylvania in the 1920s, a region that was then part of Romania under the peace treaties following the First World War. The protagonist, Abel, is a resourceful teenage boy who is forced to leave his parents and his home because of poverty. His father accompanies him to the snowy mountains, where he is the guardian of a forest owned by the bank of a neighbouring town, where he oversees the firewood that is being harvested. Up there, he has only himself to rely on. Áron Tamási's beautiful story is about the relationship between man and nature, man and man.

Baradla Géza, war criminal, returns after 25 years, with his ex-accomplice, Obrád Simon, to the village where he burned houses with people inside and executed partisans. The ex squad-leader is chased to this place by his "heroic deed" and the memory of his love. Like a maniac, he wants to forgive the village residents for having killed six of his soldiers.

Imre Horváth and his friends gather to celebrate his wife's birthday. They are confused because of the changes in the country's politics and want Horváth to be much more active politically, but he is more concerned about his affair with his best friend's daughter.