The family of the director of the state farm lives in a small Uzbek village. One day, the nephew of the mother, Sanjar, appears in this hospitable family. The kind and impressionable Sappho, observing his cousin's connections with a thieving company, draws unpleasant conclusions for himself and makes completely independent decisions...
In this heavyhanded political allegory, set in the plains and mountains of Central Asia, a tribe of people led by the fanatical Mavrut (Vladimir Msrian) wanders about in the most desolate parts of this already desolate region in search of a mythical "Land of Happiness." Their quest is hampered by the fact that they must all live a life which is extremely ascetic. One tribeswoman expresses a desire to have a child, but is rebuked by being reminded that she has vowed never to have worldly ties that would distract her from the quest. When she has a child anyway, she and her lover are made to pay for this crime in a horrific way. Despite that, the child becomes a kind of holy mascot for the group, touted by the leader as a kind of savior. They are distressed when the child goes missing one day, only to appear mysteriously on the opposite side of the rapids of a river, beckoning to them.
Three women’s lives intersect in a small town in Uzbekistan following the Second World War. The first, an old woman trapped in a forced marriage; the second, a schoolteacher intent on imposing progress on the remote region; the third, a young woman determined to build her own house without her husband’s or the state’s approval.
Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.
The setting is Central Asia during the Russian civil war. In the post-revolutionary twenties, when the power in European Russia was (officially) "fully in the hands of the workers and peasants", but the fight against the Basmachi rebels was in full swing. When a Red Army detachment captures Sultan Mazar, the brains behind the Bazmachi contingent, a decision is made to escort urgently the prisoner to the Bukhara province. The difficult mission is entrusted to a grizzled mountain trapper and conscientious revolutionary called Mirzo. His expertise is essential to traverse the precarious paths and steep mountain ridges along the way, impossible terrain for the inexperienced. A group consisting of Mirzo, his brother Kova, the Sultan, his daughter Zaranghis and slave Saifulla set off on this journey. They are forced to fight on the mountain ridges as well as negotiate the natural dangers and harsh elements.
An epic legend about the exploits of the legendary hero Rustam - a brave warrior who is always ready to come to the aid of those who need her. The story is based on Ferdowsi's poem "Shah-Nam". The first part of the "Exploits of Rustam" dilogy, which is continued by the film "Rustam and Suhrab" (1972).