The film depicts interconnected lives of various characters in South Vietnam in and after the war: a young girl (Mai) who lost her father (Hau)- a Viet Cong cadre; a woman (Nam) whose deceased husband is a South Vietnamese soldier has feelings for Hau and is trying to protect his daughter; a depressive man (Luong) who used to fight with Nam's husband has strong resentment towards his old army.

In the years following the American war a young woman from Hanoi teaches in a rural school in the south. There she meets a troubled young man, and they have a brief romance that she recalls wistfully years later in her unhappy marriage.

When a post-war fishing firm fails to meet its expected demand, the chief accountant begins falsifying records and cutting down on wages paid to the already struggling fishers.