Gubben i stugan is a poetic portrait of the world of Ragnar, a retired forester in Kestina, a place in the Swedish province of Dalecarlia. Ragnar lives in a house that is hidden deep in the vast woods. He was born on the sofa in the kitchen, just like his father and grandfather. Filmmaker Nina Hedenius followed Ragnar for one year during his day-to-day work. His life is completely determined by the changing of the seasons, with all the attendant climatic and physical alterations. In autumn he prepares for the
coming winter and in winter he waits for spring in the shelter of his small house. The moments are rare when civilisation penetrates the life of this man, in the form of sounds from his transistor.
The film does not contain any interviews, dialogues or monologues. Solely by means of images Nina Hedenius leads the audience into a world where man still maintains strong ties with the nature surrounding him. A world that until recently we took for granted, but which may soon belong to the past.