In order to escape traffic policeman Marie (Theresa Scholze), farmer Johannes (Ernst Stötzner) is already breaking through the maize field with his rust bucket - that's the kind of person you can find. But slowly he runs out of options to muddle through. Despite a massive shortage of money and open accounts, he still steadfastly refuses to cede his land to the hated landowner Fuchs (Hans-Uwe Bauer). When his "prodigal son" Felix (Christoph Schechinger) turns up unexpectedly, Johannes, who is lazy as a mouth, is baffled. That he lives separated from Felix's mother Katrin (Katharina Thalbach), the mayor of the Mecklenburg village, he hides from his son as well as his financial hardships. But after they cut off his water, Johannes buckles and - as the last one in the village - sells the family land to Fuchs. When he wants to talk to Felix about it, he doesn't let him have a word: With Marie's help, he has got the combine harvester "Fortschritt" running again, harvests the (sold) fields and opens up the land to his father, who now wants to become a farmer too...