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The Goslings of this film's title refers to the young girls working in a textile factory, with the storyline focusing on Marie (Yvetta Kornova), an orphan who learns about adulthood through her relationships at work and at the youth hostel where she lives. Coming from an unhappy childhood, the 16-year-old Marie observes with wide eyes the way other young women at the factory handle the advances of persistent older men and how rivalry over love interests can tear apart friendships. The downside of life is not the only side, however. Marie gets to stay with a normal, caring family for a weekend, and she contrasts that environment with the lives she has observed outside the bounds of family and home. Her experiences continue to broaden her view of life, as the "gosling" starts to lose the baby down and grow feathers that will help her to fly on her own.