To convince the prison warden against releasing him, a middle-aged Polish man recounts his life, one he considers to have been characterized by exceptionally bad luck.
The story takes place before World War II and centers on Pawel, a member of a conservative, middle-class family, and his love for Lidka, a taxi dancer. Social conventions and the lovers' inability to defy those forces Pawel and Lidka benefit. Times change, war breaks out, leading to Pawel sent to Auschwitz while Lidka marry his cousin. Their love has survived and conventions are no longer the issue.
Adaptation of novel by Eliza Orzeszkowa. The film is set in 1886 in Lithuania, is spins around a conflict between Bohatyrowicz family and aristocrat family in Korczyn. Against the background of the social and family disputes was shown topic of love between Justyna Orzelska, niece of Benedykt Korczyński, and Jan Bohatyrowicz. Will their love be strong enough to break the mental barrier that separates the world of Bohatyrowicz from the world of Korczyński?
