Lithuania in the 19th century: While the first railway-road is built from Warsaw to Moscow throughout the country people are still facing slavery and oppression from the elite. A fight between the Robin-Hood-like gang leader Laurynas and the greedy landowner Laurnyas emerges.
This movie is a story of the legendary Lithuanian peasant- Tadas Blinda (1846-1877), a Lithuanian folk hero of the 19th century often compared to Robin Hood. He is shown as a leader of serfs battling and ridiculing the Polish landlords and the Russian Empire that governed Lithuania, Lithuania after the law about the end of serfdom. The movie is a an intense drama with a mix of cruelty and love, comic situations and jokes, heroism and treason.
Early twentieth century. The future poet, the nurturer of lyrics of love, Julius Janonis, is maturing among the students of Šiauliai Gymnasium. The son of a poor peasant, sick with tuberculosis, spotted a classmate, Milda, from a wealthy family admiring his talent. Unfortunately, at a high society party held at Milda’s parents house, where Julius reads his poems, guests make fun of the poet. When World War I comes, Janonis is taken to Voronezh, to the Lithuanian diaspora.