Esko Jantunen

After Nazi Germany invades Poland in September 1939, Russia attacks Finland two months later. Finnish reservists leave home and go to war. Brothers Martti and Paavo Hakala, farmers from the municipality of Kauhava in the province of Pohjanmaa/Ostrobothnia, serve in a Finnish platoon.

Taisto Peräkorpi, who has experienced a difficult childhood, is in a prison cycle that gets worse over time. A desperate man begins to wonder if his life has any meaning left. Asking God for help, Taisto is trying to cope with his problems.

After a robbery, a gang of bandits led by Kulaus-Ramperi flees Helsinki on the Kuopio express train "Lentävä kalakukko" and tries to hide in the crowded train filled with music and singing. The cheerful conductor Saastamoinen protects the motley crew traveling on the train.