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.
This movie retells the story of a revenge that sweeps over the social and political events of the '40s. Because they sent her son to war and he never came back, his tough mother, Ecaterina Handraburu, decides to have her revenge on those who plotted to leave her heirless and grab her possessions.
A continuation of a story started in the drama "With Clean Hands" (1972).
Dying in the trenches during World War II, Stefan looks back at his own life and that of his father. Through his memories, the film presents a story that embraces two generations and various eras. It is a film about the tragedy of lives dragged into conflicts against their will, of lives violently ruined or ended – a story about the devastating consequences of war. Interweaving past and present, the flashback narrative depicts the war as a perpetual situation where the “little people” always turn out to be on the losing side.