Set in World War 2 as the Germans occupy Czechoslovakia, teenage Emilka's father is murdered by the Nazis, but she is selected for special treatment by virtue of being blonde. She is billeted with the commandant of a concentration camp near the Baltic coast, where his kindness towards her provokes his wife's jealousy, but is compromised when Emilka witnesses his brutality towards the prisoners.
A provincial town in the early 1980s. Among its residents is the Kolęda family. Mrs. Kolęda is an energetic community leader, her husband, a gentle soul, takes care of raising ducks and cultivating flowers in "tunnels" at home. Their daughter, Dorota, is a pretty and unemployed young woman. The intrigue begins when the community leader finds out that she is going to become a grandmother. Fear of losing authority, scandal, and embarrassment inspires her to come up with a truly diabolical idea - they need to buy a fiancé for Dorota with a pre-arranged divorce.