1859. Exploiting the Austrian-French-Italian conflict, Kossuth sends Batiszy Kristóf back from the emigration to organize the Hungarian Legion. Batiszy's company gets into trouble, Austrians are waiting for them, Hungarian authorities chase them, people stand still. Demolition of the troop is the task of Görgényi László chief district administrator, who used to be an officer in the revolution once.
The Lemon Popsicle boys - Bobby, Benji, and Huey - have been drafted into the army, but they're not quite ready to give up the freedom they've enjoyed for so long and submit to army discipline. They spend most of their time chasing women, trying to get out of doing any work and avoiding their no-nonsense sergeant.
The film condenses the awkwardness of country and functionary existence, consumer thinking based on paternalistic relationships into the sequence of events of 20 August, the feast of the Hungarian new loaf with sentimental irony and documentary credibility. A railwayman's family on the Balaton highlands expects the Budapest relative with his functionary boss and family.
Baradla Géza, war criminal, returns after 25 years, with his ex-accomplice, Obrád Simon, to the village where he burned houses with people inside and executed partisans. The ex squad-leader is chased to this place by his "heroic deed" and the memory of his love. Like a maniac, he wants to forgive the village residents for having killed six of his soldiers.