Growing-up village boy Marcin Debik feels bored of existence in his native place and not interested in realizing his father's ideas for living there for ever and making business there. He dreams of living in a big town, making career there and, above all, having foreign automobile, preferably big one and of American make. His determination strengthens after he had accidentally attended some rich society's party for a while. Having finally decided to take his fate in his own hands, he takes leave of his family, his girl and departs for Lublin, the town where his uncle Lukasz runs own photographic studio.
25-year-old Anna works in the laboratory of the Lodz textile factory. She lives with her mother and recently married husband. Her life collapses when a stranger appears, looking for a daughter who has disappeared during the war.
Young boxer studies with a kind, knowing manager, grooming him for the Olympics. He fights the lead boxer, has a brief fling, and gets jailed for beating up a group he feels laughed at him during the drunken spree. But he is rehabilitated and gets a crack at the Olympics where he wins.
Jan Piszczyk está en dependencias policiales. Le han pedido que cuente la historia de su vida, una vida marcada por la mala suerte. Así narra los sucesos que le han marcado durante casi tres décadas, en la Polonia fascista, en la II guerra mundial y ocupación alemana, y en el comunismo.
