Doctor who lived at the edge of a swamp was found murdered with his neck slaughtered. Investigator, together with a jury made up of local farmers, comes into the doctor's cabin and tries to discover the cause of his death. The two sources may be of any help: a diary of the doctor, and the testimony of a journalist, the doctor's friend, who was with him at the moment of death. Based on the Ambrose Bierce novel with the same name.
This film predominantly deals with the problems of a young man whom his delusions led into conflict with society. These issues will throw him into an adventure that would be tragic for him, but still helpful for him to see the truth. The story takes place in Kosovo in 1945, in an atmosphere of uncured wounds, wandering, betrayal, burned homes, typhoid and other postwar misery. An authentic story from those days was taken as the film's basis.
War arrives to a small secluded village in Vojvodina. The Germans take a group of hostages through the village and on their way molest a small boy. As revenge, the boy sets the German corn on fire. An intelligent and shrewd Gestapo officer Šicer arrives to investigate. He does not even suspect that he is up against a group of small boys, led by Milan and Vaso, and orders that all men from the village be taken to custody. He announces that one man will be shot each day unless the real culprit steps forward. Children contact the partisans.
