Three penniless artists become friends in modern-day Paris: Rodolfo, an Albanian painter with no visa, Marcel, a playwright and magazine editor with no publisher, and Schaunard, a post-modernist composer of execrable noise.

In this gloomy scenario about Finland's upcoming membership in the European Union, the country has become a poor peripheral area plagued by energy shortages and civil wars. Escaping the city to his summer cottage with his children and a lady next door, a divorced university teacher is forced to pick up a young delirious woman from the roadside. He soon falls in love with her, only to find out she is a sought-after deserter from a violent guerilla army.

Remu grew up in modest conditions. He dropped out from schoold during his teen age years and is making career as a small time criminal. His family's destiny is about to come true, and it's going to be the usual: jail, alcoholism and violent death. After learning about rock music Remu learns to play drums and pushes himself into different bands. His first time in jails interrupts his music career, but after being released he starts his own band; Hurriganes.