In the early 1950s, a talented singer tries to defect to Italy with her football player lover, but is caught by an informant, so they have to pay hard for this anti-system act. Vince Nagy and Vali Szalai are a happy loving couple. Vince is a rising footballist, Vali is a singer. The socialist regime chose Vince to make an example of him: he has to leave the country immediately or broke up with Vali. They chose to leave together, but the escape fails, they get in prison.
Anita and her married boyfriend, András, get involved with some heavy hitters who smuggle from the Ukraine into Hungary. The deeper into it they get, the more their relationship is strained; things aren't helped by the unexpected visit that András's pregnant wife pays Anita and her mother. At a nightclub, Anita meets Alex, a Ruthenian who's a collector of folk songs. The two of them begin an affair, and András may be left out in the cold, with the local mob still waiting for him to deliver the goods. How patient will they be, how desperate will András get, and how will Anita sort out loyalty and infatuation? (
The sad tale of a proletarian malcontent ensconced in a monstrously depressing housing project who—even less effectually than the heroes of Bald-Dog Rock—attempts to change his life. Purchasing a power drill and slinging it across his shoulder like the anti-hero of a spaghetti western, he turns entrepreneur, boring holes in his neighbors’ walls so that they can hang mirrors or pictures.
János is present at one of Tamás's concerts in the country. After the concert, he takes Tamás's son home in his car, while the couple worry about their son's whereabouts. Later they meet again. Once they played together and were good friends, but János left the band and they had to find a new pianist. The new pianist, Zsuzsa, also meets János. The two of them go to see the amateur film made of the one-time band.
Three generations live side by side. The wilful, jack-in-all-pots grandmother blackmails the family with fake faintings, while grandpa suffers from cerebral sclerosis. Mother manages a fashionable hotel, she needs to look smart and unyielding, even when their weird uncle drives into the restaurant drunk. Father is an introverted, solitary teacher, who from time to time turns the home inside out in pursuit of his hobby, i.e. topography, and his mental balance. Suddenly unexpected things come to light about their teen-age daughter, Juli.
The general practitioner Balla and his wife abandoning her higher education begin their common life in the small mountain village in the hope of quick enrichment and return to the capital. Despite Éva and Emma, the two school mistresses longing for love and Demeter, the dove-keeper obsessed with a desire for flight life is boring in the country.
The second in command of a group of highwaymen, the only ones left of Hungary's freedom fighters in the late 17th century, has a wife who really, really wants him to come home and stop gallivanting around the countryside. The only way he can figure to do this is to inform on the group to the authorities in as harmless a manner as possible. Unfortunately, these betrayals cause the group to lose many men, and the traitor grows fearful of the authorities. He gives officials every scrap of information he has in return for a full pardon, and he returns home. His wife, when she hears of these events, is infuriated. Such betrayal is far in excess of anything she can condone, and she kills him. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi