Downstream is about the relationship between a widower and his children. Most important theme in the film is the destructive influence of materialism in the face of the responsibilities and worries of a father. Parental love flows downstream – it doesn’t swim up against the stream. The father is a hard-working, lowly office clerk who brings up his children with the aid of his sister-in-law and her family. When he gets promoted, he has to move. In his new residential surroundings he becomes involved in a new relationship, but this doesn’t please the children. The family then moves to the capital. When son and daughter marry richer partners, they start to ignore their father.
