Plot

Based on the trilogy of books by Anatoly Rybakov: "Deti Arbata", "Strakh", and "Prach I Pepel". The events circle the 1930's to 1940's. The film leads the viewer into the Kremlin offices, communal flats, university lecture halls and even into prison cells. The viewer also gets to feel what various aspects of life felt like, including Siberian village life, life in various Russian provinces and the tragic events of the breakout of World War II. The story's heroes are the simple lads and girls of the Moscow Arbat and the high-ranking powers: Stalin and his colleagues, workers, head's of scientific institutions and large contractors. The film lets you feel what life was like for these people, their lives and work and the enormous influence of war on the fate of the people.—russart.com

"Romeo and Juliet"- type 15-episode saga set in the 1930s Soviet Union under Stalin's rule. Varya (Khamatova) and Sasha (Tsyganov) are neighbors, living in the same building in Moscow. They fall in love with each other, but soon are separated, because at college Sasha's humor was labeled as "anti-Soviet" and he is sentenced to exile in Siberia. While Varya is faithfully waiting for his return, the massive repressions and executions of innocent people are going on all over the Soviet Union under the dictatorship of Stalin and Beriya. Sasha comes back a different man, he is victimized and tired, and he is restricted from living in Moscow. Varya and Sasha still love each other. But, can their love survive?—Steve Shelokhonov