Petr Kratochvíl

Set in Prague during the years leading up to World War II, this family saga tells the story of a cobbler named Vincenc Bursik (Vladimir Mensik), who uproots his clan from the country to the city, only to suffer the loss of his wife and the failure of his shoe business within months. When his daughter moves away to go live with a wealthy businessman as his mistress, Vincenc is left to take care of his two sons, who spend their days in a secret garden vying for the affections of a teenage girl.

Funny banter about love, sex, social status, and other ideals, while a new railway employee is trained and sent on his first run as driver.

The waitress Gita from the hotel "Bobí vrch" approaches her lover who has not left his wife yet and gives him an ultimatum: if he does not do all according to her wish, she will announce to the police his machinations with foreign currency.

The sore and tender hearts of a young couple with a toddler are explored in this drama. The little girl, four years old, is not aware that she is doing anything distressing while she ambles about the house on the day after a post-examination celebration by her father, a university student. Even though hung over, he tries hard to be patient with her. The beginning of the story follows her on her little adventures. The girl comes down with a fever, which kills her before anything can be done, and the student and his photographer wife mourn and comfort one another. Little encounters with children cause the mother pain she is seldom free of, until she gives birth to their next child, a son.

An old man is wandering round a badly signposted and as yet mostly under construction Prague housing estate looking for the high rise block into which he is supposed to be moving with his daughter's family. The old granddad from the countryside likes chatting, nothing escapes his eyes and he wants to give everyone a helping hand.