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Some reviewers mistook this historical drama for a children's film, but it's not exactly a children's film. It's based on a satirical story by 19th-century Russian writer Nikolai Leskov. Though he also wrote a number of serious novels (one of them, Lady Macbeth of Mtsenk was made into an opera by Dmitry Shostakovich), "Levsha" (The Lefty) remains his most well-known and popular work in Russia. The story of Levsha was both a satire on Russian bureaucracy and a celebration of the ingeniousness of ordinary Russian people. In the film, set in 19th-century England, Tsar Alexander I has found a mechanical marvel for his collection of unusual objects from around the world. It is a tiny mechanical flea made of steel -- so small that it can only be properly viewed through a microscope. When its tiny key is wound, it performs a little dance. The next Tsar, Nicholas I, shows the flea to the craftsmen of Russia, with the wish that they might improve on the marvel in some fashion which will highlight Russian genius. A trio of poverty-stricken craftsmen including a man called Lefty agree to take on that task, and soon enough return the flee with their typically Russian improvement: they have put shoes on the flea's feet, with their names engraved on them. These engaging rogues have other adventures as well. The film's director Sergey Ovcharov was awarded at the annual young cinema showcase in Leningrad in 1987.