"Sex, drugs and rock and roll", not in the West but in a Communist police state - Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia of the 1970s . Anti-hero Olin, 21, has just left a mental hospital, after having slashed his wrists to dodge military service. His prominence in the underground scene of youthful revolt makes him an increasing target for the forces of order. Eventually he is on the run, determined to cross the frontier to the "West" he dreams of.