The action takes place in a small town situated between a river with a romantic past and a cement plant with an industrial future, which is attracting new workers. Some of them go to live with the good-hearted Old Vangel. These are all people who have lived through many frustrations and made bad names for them. Two of them arrive straight from prison. It appears that it is a failure that has taught them to value freedom, to yield easily to pleasures of life and to temptation. The dramatic effect of the film is felt when this happy band goes face to face with the practical things of life and the prejudices of the people around them. They also clash with several people in small town whose life is passed uneventfully and who have working without looking around lest evil should lead them astray and destroy their property. The filmmakers examine two attitudes to life, each imperfect in its own way, thus making us consider the possible ways of achieving harmony.