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This Russian drama is set in 1907 just before the Revolution erupted and centers upon a young musician who is trying to record all of the folk songs in his big country. His journey leads him to encounter all types of people. The only shadow is the threat of Czarist troops looking to exterminate those who seem to threaten the crumbling monarchy. The musician finds himself pursued when his map is mistaken by soldiers for a list of possible radicals. All those the musician visited are executed and as the story ends, a community religious celebration becomes a massacre when the troops suddenly move in to seize them en masse.