In 1943, a drunk cook is mistaken for a secret agent and sent on a special mission from London to Nazi-occupied Poland.

Michał is among the soldiers quartered in a village near Lublin. By accident, he goes to the palace and visits the magnificent building, where he meets a widow Maria. Meanwhile, local peasants do not want to wait for the start of land reform. They appoint their own committee and want to deal with the division of property themselves.

Wiktor Wiarecki is an unsuccessful writer. He is also not successful in his personal life: Wiktor's marriage is in crisis, and his adult son wants nothing to do with his father. The turning point is the death of his friend Wiarecki, an outstanding writer Stefan Przewłocki. A literary widow gives Wiktor the materials for the deceased's last novel.

Post-war movie