Niki is a retired colonel. His son has just died in an accident, his Daughter is married to the son of Flo, his neighbour from across the street; the young couple are getting ready to leave Romania for the U.S. for good. Flo, a bohemian leftover from the seventies, is into a lot of things, he's a home-video fan and a closet tyrant who takes everything out of Niki. Flo strips Niki of everything: his few possessions, his moral values, even his own self-image and personal dignity; everything that goes into making a man a man. Then comes the ultimate humiliation, Flo forces Niki and his wife to dress up as cartoon characters... But the day of the National Army Day, spurred on by the fanfare, Niki puts on his uniform, picks up a hammer and crosses the street to Flo's house.