István Balogh, a not very affluent Hungarian farmer, lords over his wife, children and his "hired" slave. Cut off from the rest of the world on a distant farm in the Great Plains, he tries to uphold a family ideal he formulated from rigid traditions. The close-knit, albeit extreme, human relations sweep these characters towards tragedy. The film was inspired by articles, news programs, and the recollections of individuals who lived through similar situations.