February 1948. The struggle of decisive social forces for the heart of Europe.

A 50-year-old foreign trade executive meets a 20-year-old student at a trade fair in Brno. The relationship triggers confrontational memories of his own youth and ideals...

The future communist journalist Julius Fučík had a stimulating childhood and youth in a working-class environment, when his moral maturity was already showing. The authors of the film recall that the young Julek was a star of the suburban operetta scene, and in three episodes they depict him both in his early childhood and already at the gymnasium, when the outbreak of the World War shaped his determination.

Petr Rynes (Svatopluk Matyás) is celebrating his forty-fifth birthday in the company of his friends. He is happy with his wife, and his abilities at work have been rewarded with the medal For Outstanding Work. But a few short seconds are enough to change his life when he makes the ill-judged decision to take his car to bring a friend's wife to the celebration, and hits a pedestrian on the way. He has of course been drinking at the party and is consequently sentenced to sixteen months in prison. Being in jail is not an easy thing for a honorable communist. He soon gets into conflict with several violent inmates, who think they can break his spirit by violence.

Even ideology permeated the children's stories: the beginnings of forced collectivisation in the village are seen through the eyes of a young boy. As the son of an honest and deliberate communist official, there is no shortage of informed insight, even if it is lightened slightly by the occasional wacky idea. However, childhood friendships or even loves run up against the conflicts of an excited age, especially when the protagonist's best friends come from families of class enemies.