Rebus

The film contrasts two opposing moral attitudes. On one side is a man from society’s margins who gives up the role of leader of a small-town gang and tries to start a new life honestly. On the other side is a young scientist, a sociologist (or psychologist), who, guided by the principle "the end justifies the means," uses dishonest methods to infiltrate the criminal environment, treating people merely as research material. After completing his military service, Czesiek returns to his hometown, a former leader of the local hooligans. His friends expect him to take the helm again and help with their next “hits,” but Czesiek severs ties with his old life. He marries a girl who is expecting a child, moves in with his mother-in-law, and secretly takes on his first honest job — working construction. He is a conscientious worker and is promised a coveted apartment as a reward. At the same time, a young sociologist named Marek arrives in town from Warsaw. He wants to penetrate the local group of hooligans to conduct research on “people from the margins,” with Czesiek himself becoming his primary focus. Marek acquires information about him from his ex-girlfriend, Alena. At all costs, Marek pursues gathering material that will boost his academic career, without regard for the consequences. His fiancée, who traveled with him to the town, disapproves of this attitude and breaks up with him after a humiliating scene at a party where Marek pretends not to know her. Incited by Marek, Czesiek’s former friends plan a heist at the construction site. Warned in advance, Czesiek tries to stop them, which leads to a fight. When the police arrive, Marek takes advantage of the chaos and escapes by train to Warsaw. Czesiek also reaches the train station—he finds Marek, rebukes him for his cynicism and lack of principles, and then throws Marek’s notes out the train window, symbolically destroying the result of the dishonest “research.”