Pista Rácz, bearer of the title "outstanding workman" is opposed to all forms of sport, and is especially antagonized by Jóska Teleki, a first-class sportsman, who seems to be a drawback for Rácz's brigade in terms of work quantity performance figures.

Lint and his lover are sailing and making fun absent-mindedly at Lake Balaton when the anchor suddenly gets stuck in a bomb in the mud. Lint gets hurt while fussing about under the water. A strong storm breaks out when they reach the shore. In the local restaurant the man recalls his memories of war.

In 1956, a crusading newspaper reporter covers the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Initially critical of the communists, the feature later espouses the virtues of social changes implemented since the invasion.

Three people – a returned prisoner of war, his beautiful second wife, and the possessive, hunchbacked spinster who is his sister-in-law by his first marriage – are isolated in a little house under an extinct volcano, where each strives for personal happiness but is suffocated by their dependence on the others.