An evening at an Italian restaurant. Hosted by tolerant and relaxed Flora, various parties of middle-class people come in -- large and small, young and old, regulars and tourists, married and single -- to dine, converse, argue, celebrate, make confessions; to overhear other people's discussions, to interrupt them, to sing, listen to music, and enjoy life. The camera, just like the people, moves constantly from table to table, into the kitchen and the back room to observe the staff's petty jealousies and frustrations -- until two hours later it's time for everybody to go home.
The Prague Grand Orchestra travels by train to a music festival in Yugoslavia. Only the singer Sona Klánová missed the departure. In the meantime, she managed to buy a ticket to Belgrade at the air-terminal from Mrs Navrátilová, who couldn't make the trip. In the meantime, the orchestra conductor is beside himself with despair. He phoned to Prague from the border, and when he realized that Sona had left her house in a taxi, he thought that she would catch up with them by the road. The orchestra delayed the train's departure with an improvised concert for the custom officers and the passengers.
Italian director Giueseppe DeSantis was the creative force behind this Yugoslavian "slice of life" drama. The title translates as The Year-Long Road; accordingly, the plot concerns a joint, voluntary effort between Italy and Yugoslavia to construct a highway along the countries' Naturally, this animosity wreaks havoc on the various Romeo-Juliet romances in the region. All is resolved when oil is discovered on one of the islands. An American oil company is finally able to establish détente between the warring factions, smoothing the path for the long-delayed marriages of three young couples.
An engineer and his wife move to Zenica where the construction of the first plants is taking place, during highly progressive industrialization of the country. Her dreams are not in accordance with the reality, which makes their marriage impossible to function.
