The smelter Leo dreams of a trouble-free life, but the social conditions are far from stable: his work is hard, and the factory management is keen to make as much profit as possible before the ship goes under. The uncertain future for Leo and his friends also has an impact on their private lives. Leo begins an affair with Verica, who is attracted by his old rocker image. Then Leo's wife, Ruza, fed up by all of this, drops him and everything else and goes back to her parents. But then she meets Michel, the head of security at Leo's factory. Ex-legionnaire, Michel is a passionate photographer, his favourite subject being the female body. Leo loses his job over a jealous outburst. In anger he tries to overturn a monument on the town square - an winds up in prison. The factory management, however, takes on general hands from prison every day, and so Leo is reunited with is pals. When foreign business partners visit the foundry for a meeting, they are so impressed by the archaic appearance of the workers and the place's incredible atmosphere, they suggest that everything be pu under a preservation order. Passionate collectors of socialist realism, they are particularly taken by Leo, take him with them as a perfect specimen. Two years later he returns triumphantly - clean-shaven, in a Cadillac.
