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After Unto destroys Kalervo’s house, he takes Kalervo’s son Kullervo as a slave. Kullervo grows into an angry youth, kills the smith’s wife after finding stones in his bread, and later reunites with parents who survived the fire. In a dream, Kullervo learns that the girl he seduced was his lost sister Ainikki. He retaliates against his father, burns Unto’s house and kills Unto’s clan. Finding his friend Kimmo insane, Kullervo throws himself onto a fire and dies.
Lear disinherits Cordelia after she refuses to compete with her sisters in declarations of love, then loses his authority as Goneril and Regan reject him. Meanwhile Edmund deceives Gloucester and turns him against Edgar, who disguises himself as Poor Tom. The sisters and Edmund maneuver against Albany as the French and British prepare for battle; after Edmund loses a duel to Edgar, he orders Lear and Cordelia killed. Lear enters carrying Cordelia’s body and dies beside her.
In an encroaching ice age, the English prince becomes king and leads an army across the frozen Channel to France with four prospective brides and Parliament, represented by a giant cannon. The campaign follows the Hundred Years’ War: the English win at Crécy, then besiege Calais. The king grows increasingly cruel, ordering the English archer mutilated and threatening the starving people of Calais, though he later spares six burghers after the Queen and Caroline plead for them. He plans to conquer Paris and continue south, while chronicler Froissart asks him to read his account; the king replies that Time shaped history, not him.
In a palace, courtiers worry that the King has not left his chamber for three days. He later appears but speaks only through Queen Constance. Valmonte rises in the court and invites Constance to flee with him; Kitty plans their escape during a feast. The King overhears, disguises himself as a beggar at the feast, and is ordered arrested by Ossip, who does not recognize him. Constance and Kitty escape; Valmonte emerges bearing the autocrat’s insignia.
In sixteenth-century Russia, Anna seduces a merchant while she and her husband Antti are serfs in his household. The merchant’s wife discovers the affair and demands that the couple be killed. Antti binds the merchant and his wife and burns their house before escaping with Anna to Finland. At Olavinlinna castle, Anna is accused of burying her baby; Antti, disguised as an old man, testifies about their escape. They flee again, but are later caught in a rebellion against the royal castle. Antti and his group are killed, and Anna laments her husband.
In 1907 in Kainuu, poor crofter Topi and his wife Riika struggle to feed their family. They learn about an election and hope it will improve their lives. Topi dreams of failing to obtain help, then goes to the village to exchange birds for grain. An agitator explains social democracy, and the villagers vote. Topi works at a logging camp while Riika waits anxiously. Their children die from malnutrition. News arrives that ordinary people have won the election, but the promise of better food and health comes too late. A bear awakens and kills Topi; Riika finds him dead with a red line of blood on his throat.
After Unto destroys Kalervo’s house, he takes Kalervo’s son Kullervo as a slave. Kullervo grows into an angry youth, kills the smith’s wife after finding stones in his bread, and later reunites with parents who survived the fire. In a dream, Kullervo learns that the girl he seduced was his lost sister Ainikki. He retaliates against his father, burns Unto’s house and kills Unto’s clan. Finding his friend Kimmo insane, Kullervo throws himself onto a fire and dies.
Lear disinherits Cordelia after she refuses to compete with her sisters in declarations of love, then loses his authority as Goneril and Regan reject him. Meanwhile Edmund deceives Gloucester and turns him against Edgar, who disguises himself as Poor Tom. The sisters and Edmund maneuver against Albany as the French and British prepare for battle; after Edmund loses a duel to Edgar, he orders Lear and Cordelia killed. Lear enters carrying Cordelia’s body and dies beside her.
In an encroaching ice age, the English prince becomes king and leads an army across the frozen Channel to France with four prospective brides and Parliament, represented by a giant cannon. The campaign follows the Hundred Years’ War: the English win at Crécy, then besiege Calais. The king grows increasingly cruel, ordering the English archer mutilated and threatening the starving people of Calais, though he later spares six burghers after the Queen and Caroline plead for them. He plans to conquer Paris and continue south, while chronicler Froissart asks him to read his account; the king replies that Time shaped history, not him.
In a palace, courtiers worry that the King has not left his chamber for three days. He later appears but speaks only through Queen Constance. Valmonte rises in the court and invites Constance to flee with him; Kitty plans their escape during a feast. The King overhears, disguises himself as a beggar at the feast, and is ordered arrested by Ossip, who does not recognize him. Constance and Kitty escape; Valmonte emerges bearing the autocrat’s insignia.
In sixteenth-century Russia, Anna seduces a merchant while she and her husband Antti are serfs in his household. The merchant’s wife discovers the affair and demands that the couple be killed. Antti binds the merchant and his wife and burns their house before escaping with Anna to Finland. At Olavinlinna castle, Anna is accused of burying her baby; Antti, disguised as an old man, testifies about their escape. They flee again, but are later caught in a rebellion against the royal castle. Antti and his group are killed, and Anna laments her husband.
In 1907 in Kainuu, poor crofter Topi and his wife Riika struggle to feed their family. They learn about an election and hope it will improve their lives. Topi dreams of failing to obtain help, then goes to the village to exchange birds for grain. An agitator explains social democracy, and the villagers vote. Topi works at a logging camp while Riika waits anxiously. Their children die from malnutrition. News arrives that ordinary people have won the election, but the promise of better food and health comes too late. A bear awakens and kills Topi; Riika finds him dead with a red line of blood on his throat.