環衛公司垃圾車駕駛員尼卡德（Matti Pellonp?? 飾）的老同事計劃籌資組建自己的環衛公司，邀請尼卡德技術入股，但老同事不久急病突發身亡，尼卡德的生活重回一潭死水狀態。尼卡德心有不甘借酒滋事，在被拘留的時候結識日后的同事米卡拉。米卡拉偶而會不識趣的妨礙尼卡德暗地追求超市售貨員伊羅娜（Kati Outinen 飾），但他仍是尼卡德最可依賴的朋友。伊羅娜為報復超市經理偷走了錢盒，尼卡德幫助她找到服裝店的新工作，服裝店經理夾到尼卡德與伊羅娜的關系中間，但尼卡德最終奪回了自己的愛人。　　本片獲1987年芬蘭電影尤西獎最佳影片獎。是導演郭立斯馬基（Aki Kaurism?ki）無產階級三部曲的第一部。

　　As bacteriologist Lena (38) drives past a burning car, she hears a scream of a dying woman. Lena does not tell her boyfriend how much the incident distresses her, just as she does not talk about the stillbirth she recently had. Instead, she throws herself into her work, intrudes into the life of the deceased, begins an affair with the widower and gradually takes on the role of mother to their son. Her persistent insomnia causes her to lose control between dreams and reality. Finally she accepts the help of a whisperer and then finds her own way to cope with her loss

　　摯友雷文和粉紅公主在令人聞風喪膽的海盜、七海之王劍齒虎船長的麾下服役。狡猾的格羅爾伯爵夫人西比拉襲擊了他們的船，偷走了珍貴的船首像并綁架了粉紅公主—這一切都是她精心策劃的，旨在誘捕劍齒虎船長，征服海盜的家園。