At the beginning of normalization, stories emphasizing civic awareness once again prevailed. The hero here is a teacher from a small village in the foothills, whose inhabitants help the partisans in their fight against fascism. The hero, the only intellectual among them, agrees with them and educates not only his students in this spirit, but is also prepared to lay down his life for his ideals. When German soldiers occupy the village and force the teacher to cooperate, the model situation escalates.
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.
After World War II, a woman refuses to believe her husband, missing on the Russian front, is dead. Flashbacks reveal their brief courtship and marriage.
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers.
The attractive Oberleutnant Paul Wendlandt is stationed in North Africa as a fighter pilot. While in Berlin to deliver a report he is given a day's leave, and on the stage of the cabaret theatre "Skala" sees the popular Danish singer Hanna Holberg.
After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her.
Delia Peletier has been paid to have a child for a wealthy man who wants an heir. She has the baby and turns it over to her "employer," but subsequently decides she wants the child back.
After a peaceful sailboat ride, four young people, including rich kid Bill, Joe, Fred and Jane, knock on the door of a secluded villa after their dune buggy runs out of gas.
