Aleksei Gnilitsky

Quelque part sur la steppe, au bord du Don, la jeune Vera vit avec sa petite fille et Valery, son mari alcoolique, dans des conditions d'extrême dénuement. Lors d'un mariage, ses yeux croisent ceux de Pavel. Un amour fou naît entre eux.

Following a brawl, Captain Ignat, who is traumatised by the death of his daughter, is ordered together with a regular soldier to find a deserter and bring him back via Moscow to stand before a military court. Although they locate the young soldier, their journey across the wintry moloch that is Moscow is slow and tortuous. Before long, the unlikely trio find themselves drawn into a chaotic maelstrom of violence, corruption, criminality, degradation and squalidness. In the face of the monstrous malaise and everyday horror of life in Russia, the gradual breakdown of the film’s anti-hero becomes a metaphor for Russian society.

Varlam decides to leave his home and life as a peasant in order to be with his beloved one. To get some money, he tries himself as a street fighter and is noticed by an Englishman and an avid gambler Parker. The latter gives him a chance to become a professional soccer player in 1909 Russia. Now, Varlam has to not just break all the boundaries but to save his true love.