The film is set in
Dubrovnik, the last few days before the
Second World War. The story revolves around three friends — Miho (a
Jew), Niko (a
Croat) and Toni (an
Italian). They spend their days in each other's company - they're shown visiting a prostitute named Pina together, and later during practice at a
fencing club. Toni is in a relationship with Niko's sister Ana, who intends to marry him. The engagement is interrupted by the noise of fighter jets and gunfire.
Fascist and
Nazi soldiers enter the city and occupy the entire area. Subsequently, Dubrovnik is annexed by the
NDH and brought under a brutal dictatorship by the
Ustashe, which divides the locals: Toni becomes a fascist, Miho is kicked out of his fencing club, while Niko and his father Baldo become anti-fascists and join the
communist resistance. At a fascist celebration, Niko turns a picture of
Mussolini upside down. By that point, Toni is a staunch anti-communist. In one raid, the Ustashe round up a dozen dissidents, mostly Jews and one
Orthodox priest who preached in Russian, and take them by bus out of the city into the wilderness, slaughtering them. The bus driver, a Croat, calls the fascists freaks, whereupon they kill him too. Miho's father is also killed on the bus, and Miho, while the Ustashe are distracted by the bloodbath, jumps off the bus. Ana gets pregnant and marries Toni. Baldo is arrested for publicly expressing his contempt for the fascist movement, and dies in an attempt to escape deportation to a
concentration camp. Toni moves into Niko's house, claiming that it is now his. Toni is about to leave the house together with Miho, who is hiding at his place. The three of them sing the song
Drugovi stari (Old friends) for the last time. In the middle of the song, Niko shoots Toni. Ana enters and is shocked by the sight. Niko and Miho pack up and leave, joining the
partisan movement. ==Cast==