16-year-old Mari, raised without a mother by a drunkard father, is put in an orphanage which she immediately, though unsuccessfully, tries to flee from. The sensitive Mari finds it hard to adapt to the coarse manners and brutal games amongst the children. Only gradually does she develop a sense for the similarly difficult fates of her fellow sufferers, who have long forgotten how to cry. She even falls in love for the first time, not with her self-appointed “protector” Tauri, but with the rough-mannered Robi.
Mari

Robi

Tauri

Katrin

Kerttu
Melita

Siiri

Anne
Teacher

Robi's Mother

Mari's Father

Tauri's Father

Anneli

Rein

Manfred
Headmaster

Ülo's Lover

Male Teacher

Anne's Mother

Triin
Unknown Role

Unknown Role
Unknown Role