After The Assistant, The Southern Mail is the second novel of Ladislav Ballek to be adapted to the movie screen. It is setin a fictitious border town in the south of Slovakia shortly after WWII, when the new state borders were just drawn on the maps. The recollections of a forty-year-old author about.his childhood take us backto the 1940s. We see the un-certain times, the conflicts, and the colourful characters of the multi-cultural region of southern Slovakia through the wondering eyes of a five-year-old boy.

A story of a family that after WWII moved to the south of Slovakia and acquired a prosperous butcher business left behind by a Hungarian emigrant. From the previous owner, the family also inherited a self-assured, greedy assistant who does not like to observe any firm moral principles. He assists the family in gaining wealth but in the long run, he causes the family's moral dissolution. In his most successful feature film, directorZoro Zahon combined a complex drama with excellent acting performances, especially that of Hungarian actor Gabor Koncz in the lead role. Reican (Elo Romancik) the local butcher is nobly trying to make a living for himself and his family after World War II in a small town in southern Slovakia. His macho assistant Volent (Gabor Konz) has his mind set on advancing in the world and he starts to do so by first seducing the butcher's wife (Ildiko Pecsi) and eventually, also her daughter (Marta Sladeckova). The butcher himself is not motivated by consumerism, and he resists all the material temptations that are snatched up by the local up-and-coming elite. Unfortunately, his wife does not share his more spartan, non-materialistic view of life and she and the assistant Volent hatch some schemes to make a lot of money fast -- and they succeed. By now, the butcher is less and less happy with his life at home and these new riches leave him cold -- sooner or later, he will have to decide on a course of action that will set things right for him since he cannot seem to change over to a more avaricious life style.