Three men who fought with the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War and have since prospered reunite to go rabbit hunting on the hot, arid land owned by Jos?(Ismael Merlo). Jos? Paco (Alfredo Mayo), and Luis (Jos?Maria Prada) are joined by the much younger Enrique (Emilio Guitierrez Caba), who was born after the Civil War. To impress the others, Jos?buys an expensive radio and camera but refuses to purchase medicine for the sick mother of Juan (Fernando Sanchez Polack), a crippled peasant who lives on his land. In addition, the men shamelessly lust after Juan's impoverished young niece. As the heat of the day builds, tensions between the men boil to the surface, reaching a violent climax when Juan asks Paco for a significant loan. Saura uses the veterans of the war, and their personalities, their petty jealousies, bravado, and senseless machismo as an allegory for what Spain had, unfortunately, become after a generation of Francoist rule. The character of Enrique represents the contemporary Spanish generation that was not taught about the Civil War in school.