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Re-released in 1985 after being censored by the advent of martial law in 1981, this unrelentingly grim tale about a woman's life inside and outside a Polish prison weighs in on the side of heavy-duty misfortune. The police come for the pregnant Klara (Ewa Blaszczyk) on her wedding day, arrest her for embezzling funds, and throw her in prison. Then Klara's newborn daughter is taken away from her after her birth and sent to an orphanage. After more tragedies, Klara's sentence is commuted to 25 years instead of life, and within 12 years she is released on parole but walks out into a country plagued by political turmoil.