It is set at the annual ball of a small town's volunteer fire department, and the plot portrays a series of disasters that occur during the evening.

[1] By portraying the prevailing corruption of the local community and the collapse of even well-intentioned plans, the film satirized the communist system.

The firefighters also plan to present a small ceremonial fire axe as a birthday gift to their retired chairman, who has cancer (although they believe he does not know it himself as doctors were forbidden from revealing terminal illnesses to their patients).

During preparations for the ball, a man sets a banner ablaze and finds himself dangling from the rafters of the town hall when his colleagues allow his ladder to fall.

Josef, one of the firefighters, sees the prizes are missing, but no one admits to knowing anything about the thefts; he eventually finds out that even his wife is involved.

In the darkness all of the remaining items are also stolen, and when the lights come back on, Josef is caught returning the head cheese his wife stole.

"[2][full citation needed] The movie was shot in a typical local Palace of Culture, "Na střelnici" in Vrchlabí.

To shoot the natural sound of their voices it was necessary to have silence on-set, so during the actors' dialogue scenes the band merely pretended to play and the dancing couples wore woollen socks or slippers.

I wanted just to make a comedy knowing that if I'll be real, if I'll be true, the film will automatically reveal an allegorical sense.

Among other things, fire companies across Czechoslovakia protested that the film was an attack on their integrity, to the extent that Forman and his team felt obliged to tour the country dispelling this literal reading.

By chance, Forman met with Claude Berri, who contacted François Truffaut, and after watching the film they both agreed to buy the international rights.