Jozef Drus

The year is 1750. Europe is in a ravaged state following a plague. Victor Moritz and Rufolf de Sevre are gamblers, frequenters of elegant casinos and fashionable brothels. Rudolf is a young aristocrat, charming and charismatic. His degenerate behavior has an animal intensity. Victor, though leading the life of libertine, remains to one side. He is a man of a refined taste despite his low birth and buys his noble title thanks to his gambling skills. Victor and Rudolf have been inseparable friends for years. Then two young, beautiful and innocent people - a brother and sister - enter their life...

Panoramic view of a resort town in the summer of 1930. In seventeen episodes we get a glimpse at the microcosm of its colourful inhabitants and visitors, Poles and Jews, the high society and the desperately poor.

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.

An unexpected guest shows at the door of an apartment of a working-class family, at first asking just for a glass of water.