In the late 19th century, a young woman moves to Amsterdam with her family and tries to make a living. Preyed upon by various men, she nonetheless rises in society.
The lives of Erik Lanshof and five of his closest friends take different paths when the German army invades the Netherlands in 1940: fight and resistance, fear and resignation, collaboration and high treason.
A bored company owner decides to find out what it is like to be one of his workers. During his "transformation" he falls in love with a cafeteria worker. When his alter ego "The Boss" makes an inappropriate comment to his would-be girlfriend, the worker challenges his "Boss" to a Duel.
