Two quarreling peasant families, who were forced to leave their lands after the war, are settled by accident on two neighboring farms.
One night in 1950 a passenger train runs over a man, who turns out to be the veteran train engineer Władysław Orzechowski, knows for his old ways and stern demeanor. As the inquiry panel tries to deduce why would a man like Orzechowski jump in front of a moving train several of the people involved in the case are interrogated, each telling their own version of the story. Can the panel arrive at the truth in a world where workers unite, inferior coal is a badge of honor, and the old order is suspect?
The film consists of two parts. In the first, the protagonist is Matilda. Her dream is fashionable stockings, which she cannot afford. She becomes the laughing stock of the school when she appears in stockings sewn by her grandmother. The humiliation leads Matilda to take a dramatic step. The second part tells the story of Jadźka, who is an object of derision at her school. Fearing embarrassment, she increasingly misses school and plunges into a world of autistic dreams.
