Rudolf Somogyvári

Kalán Imre, the district doctor lives in a small village surrounded by mountains. One day he is visited by two young relatives of his and their friend, a doctor at the beginning of his career. The name of the doctor is Király András, and he happens to be the great love of Kalán's young wife from her unmarried years. The orthodox Stalinist Kalán's entire life is filled with his great passion, hunting. The suffocating, narrow lives of the prominent people in the area are slowly revealed to András.

Nagy István, the formerly poor peasant boy returns to his native village as a teacher. His conviction is that the abyss between rich and poor can be diminished by good will. The rich Böröcz Horváth Klári returns his love, and also Böröcz Horváth is willing to help the poorest family, the Bakos. Bakos Jóska, who was sent to serve the tough Böröcz Horváth as a payment, dies of an infected wound and the people in the village hold the teacher liable as well. Nagy István realises, that the abyss cannot be ceased, what is more, it is impassable. He breaks up with his fiancée and stands by the side of the poor.

Young Petőfi Zoltán the son of the great Hungarian poet, Petőfi Sándor, feels as though he were a stranger in the house of his mother and stepfather. Off he goes, finding work in Debrecen, where his theatrical and literary career and love all seem to be on their way.

The film is an interpretation of everyday life and privacy as well as the first love-triangle story after 1945. Benkő Lajos, the country librarian, is stationed in the capital. In lack of a suitable apartment, his wife and children have to stay in the country.

The ancient families of Kont and Hadhazy have long been at war with each other. Lord Cont is a supporter of Vienna's rule, while Hadhazy is a follower of the Hungarian revolutionary Kossuth. Lord plans to fight Hadhazy at an approaching county meeting. Vicky, the beautiful and savvy daughter of Hadhazy's family, just before this, returns home from a Swiss boarding school for young girls, expelled because of her behavior. Vicky, dressed in a man's costume, goes to defend her father and with the honor of a nobleman fights the young scion of a family hostile to her. The young man's name is Feri Kont, and he mistakes the young man's introduction to Vicky for her brother Kalman Hadhazy. The political conflicts between the two families are mitigated by love complications. A misunderstanding at a county ball is brought to light, and the two warring camps are reconciled through the love of Vicky and Feri.

When a Latin teacher publishes an essay on the Carthaginian General Hannibal, he is quickly hailed as a celebrity genius, but in reality has become an unwitting pawn of far-right politicians.

After the failure of the Kossuth's revolution of 1848, people suspected of supporting the revolution are sent to prison camps. Years later, partisans led by outlaw Sándor Rózsa still run rampant. Although the authorities do not know the identities of the partisans, they round up suspects and try to root them out by any means necessary.