Two old friends meet at a mountain shelter and recall their university years. Midroń and Świdrycki are mature, intelligent men, experiencing a crisis of faith in the meaning of life, in their abilities, as well as fear of death. The next day, their wives join them. Although they have not had the opportunity to get to know each other so far, they become friends very quickly.
In Warsaw in 1980, the Communist Party sends disgruntled radio reporter Winkel to Gdańsk to dig up dirt on the shipyard strikers - particularly on Maciek Tomczyk, an independent labour union leader whose father was killed in the December 1970 protests. Posing as sympathetic, Winkel interviews the people surrounding Tomczyk, including his detained wife, Agnieszka.
Most important events of November Uprising in Poland.