Carla è incinta e nuda, imitando le pose che sua madre assumeva quando era incinta di Carla. La luce del sole filtra dalle finestre. Si vedono immagini in Super-8 di madri e padri, nonne e nonni, che sorridono, cuciono, recitano poesie. Poi, una giovane ragazza viaggia dagli anni Sessanta agli anni Ottanta, fino a oggi, attraversando le soglie della femminilità e della storia, fino all’incontro con Carla in riva al mare azzurro della Catalogna e con Manel, il figlio di Carla appena nato.
This apocalyptic parable carries within it a clear echo of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. This unforgiving exploration of the Czech mentality tells the tale of a troupe of wandering actors who perform a passion play in some unnamed village. Fear of some unknown danger breaks out in the village, which is cut off from the surrounding world. Stupidity, selfishness and aggressiveness then come to the surface in this society under threat. In the film's key scene, a woman is raped by the self-styled leader. Zdenuk Mahler, who would later work on Forman's examination Mozart Amadeus, worked on the script. The director Evald Schorm (1929-1988) was one of the most original members of the Czech New Wave. During the normalization era, Schorm spent many years unable to direct. His last film, Killing with Kindness (1988) was only made in the twilight years of Communism. During that period when he was unable to direct films, he became an outstanding stage director. He directed groundbreaking productions at the Na zábradlí Theater and Laterna Magika.
伊利亚(马莫多·阿西 Mamoudou Athie 饰)非常热爱葡萄酒文化,凭借着自己的努力,他考取了发证率非常低的品酒师证书,然而,伊利亚的父亲路易斯(考特尼·万斯 Courtney B. Vance 饰)却并没有为儿子的成就感到开心,因为他并不希望伊利亚去捣鼓什么葡萄酒,他可指望着儿子继承家里代代相传的烧烤店呢。 在关于未来的选择上,伊利亚和路易斯之间产生了巨大的分歧,与此同时,伊利亚在学校里亦要面临另一个无解的难题。生活对于路易斯来说也并不轻松,一方面他希望儿子能够接手家族生意,毕竟他是唯一的继承人,可另一方面,他也希望儿子能够自由的去追求他自己的梦想。
艾迪(保罗·纽曼 Paul Newman 饰)是一位技艺高超的桌球赌博师,在一次竞争激烈的比赛中,艾迪败给了对手胖子(杰基·格黎森 Jackie Gleason 饰),失败带来的打击让心高气傲的艾迪一蹶不振。一次偶然中,失意的艾迪在咖啡店里遇见了名叫莎拉(派珀·劳瑞 Piper Laurie 饰)美丽女子,两人很快坠入了爱河。
然而,莎拉的爱并没能让艾迪在挫败感中获得救赎,野心的火焰终日在艾迪的心中燃烧带来着疼痛与焦灼。一个名叫伯特(乔治·C·斯科特 George C. Scott 饰)的男人找到艾迪,希望能够当他的经纪人。在两人的努力之下,艾迪终于获得了梦寐以求的成功,可与此同时,他深爱着的莎拉却选择了离开。