Первая мировая война, 1918 год. В маленький гарнизон, расположенный в венгерской провинции, прибывает новый офицер-австриец – обер-лейтенант фон Ногай, служака, фанатик и садист, люто ненавидящий солдат, особенно если они по национальности – «всякого рода славянское быдло». Фон Ногай устраивает своим «политически неблагонадежным» подчиненным тяжелые «ночные учения», заставляет часами репетировать гимн империи, избивает своего ординарца. В конце концов обер-лейтенант получает решительный отпор от солдат роты, которые ставят своего командира в неудобное, комичное положение. А потом несколько отчаянных друзей – поляк Каня, итальянец Бальдини, еврей Хабер, чех Худэй и венгр Бенедек – решаются на побег из роты и погружаются в буйный угар алкогольно-сексуальных приключений, путешествуя по городам и странам Центральной Европы.
A young doctor has been assigned to a hospital in the provinces, in the lakes district of northern Poland. The area is a playground with hunting lodges for the priviledged, the local politicians cover up any leaks to the public. The doctor discovers a case of drunken driving but is silenced by blackmail in the court. He tries to fight back but has a love affair with the unfaithful wife of the town's Mayor.
A young factory worker takes up on boxing as a way to find himself and advance his chances for the future. But the difficulties of sorting himself out in the crooked boxing environment hold him back in the beginning, until he arrives for tournament in Chicago, where he can prove himself. In the end, he wins over his Yank opponent, an amateur below his ranking, and is back in the factory.
Two young men from a town near Lodz attack and rob a taxi driver, hoping he will have a lot of cash. Wanted by the Militia, they run away through Poland.
A school teacher from a small town in Poland comes to Warsaw to see his estranged wife, a window dresser, in the hope that she will return to him rather than give him a divorce.
