The film takes place somewhere in the Danish countryside in the middle of the 19th century. Here within a small Danish peasant family, harsh circumstances reign. With the prospect of yet another tough winter, the farmer Jens faces an unbearable choice. If the family is to survive the winter, he must settle an agreement with the rich farmer nearby and forsake his own moral as well as his most precious possession, in an effort to secure them all a better life.
At their 25th high-school anniversary some bourgeois citizens remember their time in school as a happy one. In reality it was quite the contrary. The school was a madhouse in which the teachers, especially Blomme, tormented the students. As a result one of them became a murderer.
