A documentary grotesque in which even the walls speak. Famous directors of St. Petersburg cinema recall their lives and work, and images of old films come to life to remind the viewer of themselves.
The eldest son, who left for St. Petersburg, where he works as a detective, comes to the family of a crooked merchant and shopkeeper Grigory Tsybukin. Parents decide to marry him - his son is already 28 years old. They find a poor, but beautiful, clean and modest girl who meekly marries an already worn-out and balding man from the city, decently "laying by the collar". There is a merry wedding, and the husband leaves, leaving another worker in the family...
Zhenya, a senior in high school, is transferred to a new school after changing her place of residence. The new school is full of kids from privileged families. The school has different mores, different values and she can’t resist the temptation to join the elite of the class.
A young doctor Nikolai Alexandrovich Zaostrovtsev, a fourth generation medical professional, found himself in the Gladuny village directly after the Institute. Neither he himself, nor his father, a town surgeon, expected that he would linger long their. But having become a real doctor in this working village community, he remains true to his profession without any dreams of glory or city life…