Yuri Orlov

The university exercise film and a rare portrait of Soviet underground subculture in its variety. There are hippies, metallists, Bulgakov house squatters, footage from illegal art festival Love Street organised by Sergei Solmi. Featuring performances by Moscow alternative bands such as "Звуки Му", "Николай Коперник" and "Облачный край".

The films hero is a metal worker named Ignat who is as strong and tough as the steel that his sprawling factory produces in the Ural Mountains. Its a great cheerless environment; life is arduous and dangerous; conditions at the plant are nearly subhuman. The only excitement in the grimy industrial town is provided by robbing a train at gunpoint or stealing sheep from the Bashkiri tribe. The most renowned diversion, however, is the annual fist fight between the strongest metal worker and the strongest miner from the region. Against his better judgment, but with the support of his co-workers, Ignat decides to take part in this perilous venture.