On a train trip to Amsterdam, the radioman Martin gets to share a compartment with the old colonel Vera Lemnow. Fate would have it that on the train ride back it will snow in Lübeck.
Martin has fled from a lost love, the colonel has been to the bank to check his money.
During the snowstorm, Vera talks about her time in Java, where she was married to a colonel when the Japanese occupied the island. Her colorful account inspires Martin to create a radio portrait of the eccentric old lady, but Vera keeps her secrets.
Despite the large age difference, a tender relationship develops between them after returning to Copenhagen.
Will Martin get over his broken heart? And will he ever find out the colonel's innermost secret?
The colonel and the radioman is a touching, humorous and suspenseful story about a completely unusual friendship, which at the same time evokes deep memories.
