Poland in the politically turbulent late 1970s: Witek is running to catch a train. From this banal event Krzystof Kieslowski the director of ' Dekalog' & the ' Three Colours' trilogy imagines three different possible outcomes in the young man's life. In the first scenario Witek catches the train on which he meets some hard line communists & joins the party. In the second as Witek runs for the train his path is blocked by a ticket inspector the ensuing struggle leads to his arrest & subsequent involvement in the political underground. In the final scenario Witek misses the train & he returns to the medical studies that he intended to abandon. He falls in love with a female student gets married & lives a quiet life as a doctor showing little interest in politics.