Nicolae (George Motoi), the intelectual descendant of Moromete family, former communist apparatchik in the 50s, becomes a horticultor due to a political error, and refuses to have any social life, even if he is unhappy with his inactivity. The death of his partner makes him respond to the overtures of his old comrades. Based on the eponymous novel by Marin Preda.

Mara, a hard-working widow woman brings up his two children in a developing idustrial Transylvanian town.