Two brothers—Chul-ho, an accountant with a toothache and a pregnant wife, and Yong-ho, an unemployed ex-soldier wounded in battle—navigate life in post-war Korea.
The son of a freedom fighter, Sang-hun is a member of an anti-Japanese resistance group called "Seongjinhoe," composed of students who share a dedication to the cause of liberation. Their spiritual guide is a teacher named Song Un-in. One day, Yeong-ae, whose brother is a detective in the Japanese police force charged with monitoring independence movements, joins their group. Following a series of sporadic incidents, the students gather one night to resolve on an uprising, but are discovered by the police. Young-ae is wrongfully accused of betraying their plans, but she risks her life in order to allow the group members to escape. The morning after, the students of Gwangju rise up against the Japanese government.
Gwang-pil (Lee Ryong), Dal-su (Choi Bong) and Sang-mun (Choi Myeong-su) are gangster boys who pick pockets. Ae-ran (Do Geum-bong), who works at a bakery, and Gwang-pil have known each other from childhood and are lovers. The three gangster boys rob a US army warehouse, but only Gwang-pil is caught and placed in a juvenile reformatory. Hearing that Ae-ran works as a barmaid, Gwang-pil escapes from the reformatory to see her. While Gwang-pil meets her, he is caught by a cop who has been chasing him.
