Comprised of two acts, "Why are people happy?" and "Seven years of plaster", the movie narrates the extraordinary story of an ordinary man who struggles to survive through terrible political events. In part one, the Metaxas regime (1936-1940) is depicted as a noisy dilapidated circus, where the selfless clown, Thanasis, is desperately trying to protect a fellow performer who is in harm's way. In part two, after years of oppression, Thanasis is still suffering because of his honest and kind disposition, against the backdrop of the Colonels' Junta (1967-1974), and a disorientated country in which the system's irrationality is evident.