kasjerka w byłym kinie Duńczyka - "kobieta z kotem"
Lodz 1930. Tras seis años de cárcel, delatado por un cómplice en el robo en un banco, el legendario Kwinto sólo tiene venganza en su mente. Él es un ladrón a la antigua usanza, un ladrón con un sentido de orgullo y lealtad. Al salir de la cárcel se entera de que un amigo suyo con quien tocó en la banda de jazz fue asesinado por el mismo tipo -ahora presidente de un banco- que le envió a la cárcel.
A lonely Piotr Płaksin, who makes a living from part-time jobs, lives his dreams of a trip to the Easter Islands on a self-built yacht. One day a man learns that he has become a father.
The main hero obsessively wants to become an actor. The would-be actor fails two entrance exams to the state acting school and has a nervous breakdown. Eventually he commits himself to the mental institution where patients are rehabilitated by doing some artwork. He refuses to paint but does some acting. He participates in a play where a lead, playing Oedipus, actually blinds himself. Out of the institution he has dreams of killing his father, but finally seems to be ready to start over again and either act without the state license or take another job.
The story takes place before World War II and centers on Pawel, a member of a conservative, middle-class family, and his love for Lidka, a taxi dancer. Social conventions and the lovers' inability to defy those forces Pawel and Lidka benefit. Times change, war breaks out, leading to Pawel sent to Auschwitz while Lidka marry his cousin. Their love has survived and conventions are no longer the issue.