A modern fairy tale with scientists, partisans, cosmonauts, officials, and the Motherland. The scientist and his assistant are collecting the ingredients for an elixir that can resurrect dead people to life. At the same time, officials are looking for the carpenter who has a power to transmute water into oil.
In a large house in the middle of the steppes, the Shamanovs meet for a family gathering. When suddenly the eldest brother Victor appears after a 25 year absence, unspoken family conflicts come to light. Nobody suspects that Victor is escaping his dark past and that killers are looking for his hiding place.
Garpastum is a Latin word meaning ball game. Set in 1914 in St. Petersburg, the brothers Andrey and Nikolai are passionate about the matches they play on the streets. They hatch a scheme to buy a playing field. But World War I has already begun and soon their lives and dreams will be shattered.