It is in 1941, when the first German bombs are dropped on Belgrade, that "comrade" Marko, an enterprising businessman, hides a group of refugees in his grandfather's cellar and puts them to work making arms and other objects for him to sell on the black market. Having created an air-tight underground labor camp, Marko preys on the refugees' need for protection. When peace returns, Marko manages to persuade his faithful, but naive accomplice Blacky and their "proteges" that the war is still on. Having already seduced Blacky into living underground for his own "protection," Marko also seduces Blacky's above-ground sweetheart--Natalija, knowing his best friend can't retaliate from underground. In 1944 peace returns, but down in the cellar, life continues as it has been. The Afraid to change the status quo of things, Marko convinces Blacky and the others that there is still a war raging outside, and manages to continue this charade for fifteen years.