Ferenc Fábián

In the late 17th century, Hungary moved from Turkish to Austrian domination, becoming a key part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In this story, which takes place shortly after that time, three outlaws murder a group of people on their way to a wedding. One young man was a slave travelling with the group to entertain them with his skills as a trumpeter. The outlaws spare him for the same reason. He allows himself to believe that they are really an unattached group of independence-fighters, but after seeing their brutal and callous ways, he cannot believe that they are good men, and he turns them in to the authorities. At that point, he is unnerved to discover how nobly they bear the rigors of captivity. ~

In 1950, when a young communist director arrives to take charge of a stud farm, his efforts to draw on the experience of the old hands there meet with little success. Indeed, so outraged are they at the changeover to communism that they harass him at every turn, especially after he treats a local barmaid as if she were a whore of some kind. After administering a beating to him, the old hands are nonetheless incensed when he calls on the police. The director doesn't get enough help, however, because the stable hands stab him before running off for the border.

At the end of the 16th century, Wallachia's ruler Michael the Brave dreams of uniting the kingdoms of Wallachia,Transylvania and Moldavia into a single country known as The United Principalities.

A police officer is investigating the disappearance of a colleague's young boy. His key seems to be the "dark skinned" friend of the boy about whom nobody cares, including the police.

During the 1970s a foreign smuggler is taking hostages and threatening to sabotage a river pumping station if he is not aided in his attempt to smuggle ancient artifacts out of Romania.Two young local boys foil his plans.

The film follows the stories of a handful of characters: Andrei (Radescu), who finds himself in conflict with his peers; Colonel Maxineanu (Stanculescu), the school commander; and Adrian (Mavrodineanu), a young villager who is inspired by the bravery of the cadets. The Hungarians arrive and launch a series of attacks against the Romanians. The Axis are pushed back again and again, despite superior numbers and weaponry. At the end of the film, they launch one last attack, which seems to momentarily begin breaking through. Just at that moment, reinforcements from the Soviet and Romanian armies arrive, pushing the Hungarians back.

Baradla Géza, war criminal, returns after 25 years, with his ex-accomplice, Obrád Simon, to the village where he burned houses with people inside and executed partisans. The ex squad-leader is chased to this place by his "heroic deed" and the memory of his love. Like a maniac, he wants to forgive the village residents for having killed six of his soldiers.