It is the story of Danila Prepeleac, a silly, clumsy man that does things backwards. Once he took off for the market wanting to sell a pair of nice healthy bulls. On the way to the market he exchanged the bulls for an empty wallet. But this is only the start of Danila's adventures.
After the revolution of December 1989, Romania is in full transition. Incertainty and chaos have followed Ceausescu's downfall. Fane, a worker in a wharf on the river Danube, is a former dissident who was in involved in politically motivated uprisings. Now that he has achieved what he has fought for, he is unemployed and everything around him seems to fall to pieces. His whole family falls victim to the changes of the early 90s. His daughter prostitutes herself, his elder son ends up in prison and his younger son becomes a thief.
Angela (Liliana Pană) and Dorina (Magda Catone), working at the Match Factory, live in the home and dream of marriage and spouses to give them a decent living. But the illusions are shattered when the men encountered prove their lack of character: Titi (the boy whom Angela is in love with, appears at a time with a kid and is raped), a vendor, is pimp, Emil, an engineer, is a And Radu, an emigrant in Australia, is undistinguished by his Collie dog.
A history professor decides to take kids from his class in a trek across the country so they can experience various places and people.
Victor, an incisive journalist, discovers a series of irregularities in a State farming enterprise. His investigations will unmask the fraud committed by the person in charge of the wine section, called Bachus. Although aided by an impressive number of cronies, Bachus will not be able to hide forever infamous secret.
Laura (Carmen Galin) comes from a small town on the Danube to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy. She is addressing Irina (Elena Albu) and her mother (Eliza Petrachescu) for a miscarriage following her death. Overwhelmed by a blame not belonging to her, Irina suicides.
Two cooperativists exploit a pond for fish and frogs outside their institutions circuit. Until a youth with socialist expanding ideals comes with the initiative to drain it and use the land for grains. They hatch a plan to make the pond a natural monument, so an expert is summoned, but foolish beliefs betray them.