The protagonist of the film is a 50-year-old businessman, Tomasz Adamczyk, who wants to give up running his winery business and devote himself to his lifelong passion for philosophy. This idea does not appeal to his business partner. On top of all this, Tomasz has an accident and is taken hostage by enthusiasts of the wine he produces.
Set in World War 2 as the Germans occupy Czechoslovakia, teenage Emilka's father is murdered by the Nazis, but she is selected for special treatment by virtue of being blonde. She is billeted with the commandant of a concentration camp near the Baltic coast, where his kindness towards her provokes his wife's jealousy, but is compromised when Emilka witnesses his brutality towards the prisoners.
Shortly after World War 2 a conflict between cousins, a Polish major and a former SS soldier arises on the Recovered Territories.
