This three-part historical epic of the lives and misfortunes of the Vrhunc family in the former Yugoslavia is divided into the years of 1914, 1924, and 1944. In 1914, the wealthy Vrhunc patriarch owns valuable land and operates a lucrative mine. He is conservative and wants to hold on to the status quo, and so when the region breaks away from Hapsburg rule, he loses out. His wife, in the meantime, is a tragic figure who has an unhappy solution to her stifling existence with her husband and children. In part II, set in 1924, the fascists and communists are fighting for footholds among the population and in the government, and the Vrhunc family is torn apart because their own allegiances are divided between the two opposing extremes. In part III, the family suffers the most, as Nazi collaborators are rounded up and shot by Partisans, and chaos reigns.