The Spark

A band-leader has arranged seven chairs for the members of his band. When he sits down in the first chair, a cymbal player appears in the same chair, then rises and sits in the next chair. As the cymbal player sits down, a drummer appears in the second chair, and then likewise moves on to the third chair. In this way, an entire band is soon formed, and is then ready to perform.

It's 1975, and Martin is a teenager looking to break out of a stifling home environment ruled by his alcoholic father and long-suffering mother. When Martin's pal Micke suggests they get jobs together as waiters at a resort off the Swedish coast, Martin is all for it, but before long Micke finds better things to do and Martin is left on his own. The presence of pretty fellow server Jenny is a major consolation, but to his surprise, guileless Martin is soon chosen as the protégé of Gösta, the resort's short-tempered manager. Gösta clearly likes Martin and makes him his right hand man, which gives Martin a crash course in the seedy side of life when he discovers Gösta has a number of other business interests, not all of which are legal or ethical.

A man narrates stories of his life as a 10-year-old boy in 1969 Houston, weaving tales of nostalgia with a fantastical account of a journey to the moon.