Through the fate of the main character, Józek Garstka, the Polish village was depicted during the Nazi occupation and at the beginning of the communist regime (1940–1945 and 1956) in a way that differed from the previously binding narrative. Trying to survive the difficult times, people lost in the new reality often behave in a way that is far removed from the propaganda stereotypes cultivated in earlier Polish cinematography about war heroism, sacrifice and sacrifice. In fact, it is a generational saga of the Polish countryside, referring to the TV series Chłopi by J. Rybkowski, but taking place in a particularly difficult period of the 20th century.