Maria (Suzzanna) goes to prison for murdering her own father. Upon release, she becomes a prostitute and then has a difficult time maintaining a romantic relationship with a young painter once she decides to get out of the business.
In 1913, in Oklahoma, oil derrick owner Lena Doyle, aided by her father and a hobo, is stubbornly drilling for oil despite the pressure from major oil companies to sell her land.
Abel Hradscheck, the owner of an inn in the Oderbruch country, faces financial ruin. For this state of affairs, Ursula, his wife and former actress, is by no means free of blame.
In this film the director's recurring concerns return: the divisions in the Chilean left, and its contradictions between what the director calls the "traditional" and the "revolutionary" left.
The story of a peasant whose harshness and bluntness only provoke disputes and anger, and his honesty and sense of truth and honor in conjunction with the previous qualities only exacerbate these disputes.