The ever-poker-faced Ilona loses her job as a restaurant hostess, as her tram driver husband, Lauri, also finds himself out of work. Together they must hit the streets of Helsinki, facing up to hardship and humiliation in their quest for survival, guided through the gloom by a ray of hope.
A farmer's wife is seduced into running away from her stolid older husband by a city slicker, who enslaves her in a brothel.
Small-town boys Vähy and Hapa are best friends who swear an eternal blood oath. As they grow up, however, their paths drift apart and they both find themselves searching for their place in the world.
