Clearing the sea of lignite, miners move excavators from one colossal mass to the next, which they strip. They float with dreamlike ease, like lost ships in the sweltering heat of the summer of '94 through Lusatia to the Welzow/Süd open-cast mine. Next to it lies the village of Kausche. It has to go, because the coal still lies beneath Kausche.
Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda.
Sayoko had a hidden side. Sayoko was assaulted by her boss, Kamijou, and she continued their relationship, and Kamijou's sexual play turned her into a woman.
Vijay becomes the guardian of his sister's three orphaned kids. Later, the children give shelter to Vaijayanthi, a girl trying to escape an arranged marriage, without their uncle's knowledge.
Two melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant.