春野一家人住在宁静祥和的小山村，他们的生活恬淡幸福，不过家族成员却各有各的烦恼。祖父（我修院達也 饰）性格古怪，行为乖张，醉心于私动画的制作；父亲（三浦友和 饰）是一位驻家催眠治疗师，他专心工作，无暇他顾；妻子美子（手塚理美 饰）总算暂时从育子的繁忙生活中解脱出来，于是决定重拾餐桌卡的绘画工作。夫妻俩鲜少交流，隔阂暗生；就读中学的长子阿一（佐藤貴広 饰）恋上新来的转校生，他徘徊犹豫，始终不敢表达；刚上小学的女儿幸子（坂野真弥 饰）总以为自己的头颅在不断变大，这个奇怪的幻想让她倍感困扰。吊儿郎当的叔叔（浅野忠信 饰）从东京回来，为这个平凡却又有些奇怪的家庭吹进一丝生气……

汉城的红灯区，一位17岁的少女被人诓骗至此，她化名潘舞娌（申恩庆 饰），操起了皮肉生意。舞娌很快从电视新闻跟街谈巷议中发现逃跑不可行，只得为偿还高利贷拼命工作，同时也见识着这风月场所的黑暗与混乱，某天，一名进城寻找工作的青年闯入了她的生活，但青年很快消失在人海中。不久总统遇刺，红灯区大受打击，舞娌离开汉城寻找出路，她不断更换着名字，在不同的城市间游荡，结识不同的男人，人生似浮萍漂泊不定，只有那位乡下青年始终陪伴着她。汉城奥运会开幕，舞娌再次奔赴汉城谋生，但她除了更多的债务以外什么也没有得到，舞娌在一位商人支持下经历了一段失败的老鸨生涯，生活对她来说仍然是一场没有尽头的空虚。本片获第18界青龙奖最佳女演员奖。

Byeong-tae (Yoon Mun-seob), a philosophy major at Y University, goes to a group blind date and meets Young-ja (Lee Young-ok), who studies French literature at H University. The young men and women of the 1970s, who have grown up under the influence of a rapid influx of Western culture, agonize over college issues, family conflicts, and their future paths in life. But such struggles are self-derisive, and they can see no tomorrow waiting for them. Between Byeong-tae and Young-ja, there is no promise of love, of any kind. They simply meet, and exchange meaningless conversation. Meanwhile, Yeong-cheol (Ha Jae-young), who always rides a bike and declares every time he drinks that he will set off in search of a whale, has feelings for another girl he met on the blind date, named Sun-ja (Kim Young-suk). But Sun-ja rejects Yeong-cheol, who stammers, has no prospects, and was even turned down for military duty due to health reasons, and he falls into despair. With nothing to look forward to, Byeong-tae and Yeong-cheol head to the sea. Yeong-cheol, who boasted that he would catch a beautiful whale in the East Sea, commits suicide, and Byeong-tae enlists with the military. Young-ja comes to see him off, even though she said she wouldn't see him any more, and the two of them kiss through the open window of the train that will carry Byeong-tae away.

大导演岳枫又一得意之作，描述女主角方盈饰演之文兰，围绕着三位英俊小生王羽、乔庄及张冲之间，发展出一段感人肺腑之四角爱情关系。