The movie is based in
Ottoman Vardar Macedonia and tells the story of a young woman named Cveta who is kidnapped by an
Ottoman Turk in hopes of
eloping with her. The film shows Macedonian villagers working on the fields for one of the numerous
beys in the region. The bey is trying to persecute a Turkish man and wants to punish him for his progressive ideas. One of the Macedonian villagers, Spase the shepherd, helps the man escape which subsequently brings the bey to the fields where the villagers do their work. Present among the working villagers is Cveta, who stands out from the crowd with her beauty. The bey kidnaps the girl and takes her to his
saray along with the other women-wives who form part of his
harem. At the saray, Cveta is pressured to
change her religion, renounce her family and adopt the
Ottoman culture and values and eventually become one of the Bey's many submissive wives. To lure her in, the bey promises her fortune and an easy life. When the other villagers find out about the bey's forceful acts against her will, they gather in front of his house led by a priest and Spase (Cveta's love interest), and they demand that she be freed. Since their attempt is not successful, they take the case to court. Diplomatic lawyers from
Bitola get involved in the case and they rule that Cveta go back to her family. Once free again, she decides to marry Spase and they start preparing for their wedding in the fictional village Stradalovo. However, during the celebrations the bey comes together with his soldiers in an attempt to prevent the event. He faces Spase and tries to shoot him for stealing his wife. Cveta goes in front of Spase and the bullet kills her immediately. Furious and heartbroken, all the villagers rise against the Turks in a heated armed conflict with a lot of victims. Spase and the bey fight with each other, and the former kills the bey by hitting him with a rock on the head and running away to join the rebel band
Komitadji to fight against the Ottoman rule in the region. The film ends with the villagers mourning and burying Cveta. ==Cast==