A 66 year old Night Cook living in Toronto goes in search of his family, traveling to his native Czechoslovakia for the fist time in 38 years.
Involved in an uprising against the Soviet invaders of (his homeland) Czechoslovakia in 1968, George Golias was forced to flee his country as a refugee. In doing so, he left behind a wife, a daughter, his parents and seven siblings. Thirty-seven years later, George unexpectedly receives a letter from his younger brother Milan. Despite his family's wishes for him to return home, George can only feel resentment and bitterness towards them. Upon learning new details, and seeing recent footage of his family, George finally decides to return to Czechoslovakia, reawakening powerful emotions after years of solitude, spent working the graveyard shift at a Toronto diner.—Jay Irving
A man walks out on his family and friends, and flees to Canada in order to womanize and play bachelor. Now when he's old, lonely, and poor, he tries to get back into contact with his family, using an excuse that he fled for political reasons.