An aging professor of mathematics completes his life's work, a research project that has taken him decades, and climbs up from the boiler room (his study) and back to real life. He can hardly recognize his rebellious teenage kids and materialistic wife, who hardly seem to notice his existence. The only person who is interested in the professor's work is his son's girlfriend Marja, a freshman at the university. An innocent infatuation flares up between the old man and the young girl, while the professor's family is only interested in the prize money an international jury awards the professor for his academic achievements.