In 1925 Romania, young Marie-Therese Von Debretsy refuses the flirtatious advances of her husband's commanding officer. As a result, the cosmopolitan family is reassigned to a brutally bleak and dangerous outpost on the Bulgarian/Romanian frontier where both their relationship and humanity are severely tested.
The eruption of an oil well is much needed for the survival of the workers and their families living nearby.
Mitrea Kocor, a young butler, gives up his work in the fields to join Antonescu's Romanian army, which fought alongside Nazi forces during World War II. After spending time in Soviet captivity and a prisoner-of-war camp, he returns to his home village to participate in post-war reconstruction.
