In 1912, Szczebieniew, a rich and ailing old man, comes to Italy with his young wife, Zinaida. Bored with his company, she looks for amusement and casual affairs.
Twin brothers, Jacek and Placek, are the town's troublemakers. They're lazy, greedy and also cruel. They despise hard work, so they cook up a plan to make easy money that would make them rich for the rest of their lives: steal the moon and sell it. They set on a journey to find a place where the moon would be low enough for them to steal. Before they leave, they take the last loaf of bread from their poor hardworking mother. After numerous adventures the boys manage to catch the moon in a fishing net. But it is only the beginning of their troubles.
The film opposes the view that childhood is the happiest time of our lives. Childhood dramas are deeply etched in memory and leave a permanent imprint on our consciousness. The Carousel Part I. Little boys from a small town want to take a ride on the carousel but they have no money. They push the carousel for hours. They hope that the owner will eventually give them a free ride. In the evening, however, they are already too tired to take up his offer. They are allowed a ride, but they refuse. The Fall of a Millionaire Part II. A ten-year-old boy wants to impress his friends. He is feeble and shy, but he has a piggy bank, which becomes the object of desire for his peers. He tells the other boys that he will soon buy a bicycle from the accumulated savings. When the bank is broken into pieces, the myth of the millionaire is shattered. There are only banknotes painted by the little dreamer. Joanna Piątek, Leksykon polskich filmów fabularnych, Warszawa 1996
