The year is 1941. A mentally disabled boy, Manfred, delights in regaling his dear, but seriously ill mother with his dolls' stories. His strict father Heinrich, a Party functionary, becomes conflicted when he vows to his wive at her death bed not to report the boy, as dictated by Party rule.
Upon mother's death, Heinrich has to take up the care for Manfred. He turns out to be a woefully lacking parent. Manfred would like a bedtime story, yet Heinrich only knows the Party manifesto by heart.
To escape the Party's clutches, Heinrich decides to flee with Manfred into the woods. Manfred comes across an old circus bill. He wants to go see the circus. Become an artist, even. Thus Heinrich finds out his once undesirable son, with his silly antics, is able to defeat the immoral Party monster through comedy.