A young widow, an alcoholic priest, a returnee, his German daughter, the priest′s army general twin brother, his mistress and a poet fond of haiku are the main players in this adaptation of Ante Tomic′s novel. Hrvoje Hribar uses the romantic comedy as perfected in Hollywood as the basis for his portrait of people trapped within boundaries, fighting traditions and patterns inside a society in transition. The rural Croatian setting makes the nonsense inherent in the apparatus of the church, state and nation crystal clear, albeit humorously. At the core of the film is the young widow′s love for the priest, of which he is aware, and the mix-up that is the result of the general′s sudden visit. As is the case with his other films, for television or features, Hribar never addresses the war in Croatia directly, but the shadow of that conflict falls over the story, and gives a context for the characters′ behaviors. In Hribar′s Dalmatian town, love is once again the subversive force for breaking outmoded conventions and inspiring social movement.