Ivan Filimonovich Dergunov, Mikhail Yevdokimov, is a hard‑working farmer who borrows money to save his collapsing farm and watches as bailiffs seize what’s left of his life. In a desperate flare, he sabotages the sauna stove and floods the room, then threatens to blow up his own house to keep the bank from winning. He later learns that one of his seized harvesters has been set on fire, and he blames his alcoholic neighbor—a clash that lands him 15 days of administrative arrest for assault.
After serving the sentence, he makes a bold decision: he’s going to see the president and talk about life itself. He climbs into his dusty Zaporozhets and sets off, a trip that becomes a sprawling, often comic panorama of the wild, chaotic post‑Soviet 1990s. Along the way, Ivan meets a string of colorful characters and small, human miracles that illuminate a nation in flux.
- An old man with a coffin hitchhikes a ride, explaining that even dying has become expensive. The man’s wry humor and practical stubbornness reveal how people cope with sudden endings when the world seems to have no steady ground.
- In the car’s trunk, a strange passenger lurks: Yakov, a mentally ill compatriot who wears homemade medals and speaks in clipped, sudden phrases. Yakov’s presence adds a surreal edge to the journey, hinting at the scars carried by those who survived past wars and present chaos. Yakov is played by Lev Durov, and the two travelers form an uneasy bond as the road unfolds.
- Their path collides with danger when a trio dressed as policemen pull up, offer beer, and threaten to file reports. The scene quickly shifts from farce to danger as the criminals are identified and the journey resumes. A well‑dressed man named Alexey, pulled from a river after his car sinks, emerges as a surprising ally. Alexey is a kind, uncomplicated “new Russian” who invites Ivan and Yakov into his home for a warm, ordinary dinner and a conversation about work and children. As a parting gift, he hands Ivan a mobile phone and invites him to visit Moscow in two days.
- The road then brings Ivan and Yakov to a broken KAMAZ and a pair of soldiers. Among them is Zaur, a deserter who publicly confronts prejudice in his village and becomes entangled in a tense family drama over a wedding that his fiancée’s mother orchestrates. Ivan uses a moment of civic duty—calling the unit commander with Alexey’s phone—to keep Zaur from punishment, a small act of justice that underscores the film’s thread of mercy amid hardship.
- A respite arrives with a visit to Ivan’s brother‑in‑law, who beams with pride over his daughter Nina’s return from a Paris competition, where she won a prize of $15,000. Nina chooses a precious harp for practice, not the money, and the family pools resources to fund her next attempt. The moment blends family warmth with the evolving economy of the era, balancing humor with tender affection.
- The journey continues with more oddities: Ivan and Yakov are mistaken for bandits by real law‑enforcement after a tense encounter with space‑age road thugs, and the duo are beaten and briefly detained. In a surprisingly humane turn, the interrogation reveals the men’s histories and losses—Yakov’s medals belong to his fallen sons—before the officers release them.
- A chance encounter with a roadside vendor—an elderly woman selling car mufflers—turns into a small act of generosity. Ivan buys a muffler but, moved by the woman’s story of hardship, also gives her extra money, echoing the movie’s recurring theme that strangers’ misfortunes are often a shared burden.
- A brick‑laden dump truck catastrophe on the highway sends Ivan’s Zaporozhets careening to a stop, and he is rescued by a cosmonaut, Georgiy Grechko. The cosmonaut’s kindness leads to a visit to Star City and a television moment on a popular program, aided by an ORT crew. The sequence culminates in another small gift for Yakov—the muffler Ivan once bought for the roadside vendor.
- On a Moscow street, Ivan meets a group of street children and is drawn to the youngest, Sasha. The kids’ leader is missing a leg, a grim reminder of the costs of conflict. This encounter deepens Ivan’s sense of responsibility and humanity as he considers a future that includes caring for those who are lost.
- A bold attempt to enter the Kremlin via the Spassky Gate ends in a misadventure that lands Ivan in a psychiatric ward. Inside, he meets three wild characters—one who copies Boris Yeltsin’s mannerisms, another who pretends to be a famous director, and a third who remains silent—adding a surreal, almost carnival atmosphere to the tale. The episode underscores the era’s instability and the characters’ craving for some sense of order.
- Escaping the ward, Ivan reconnects with Yakov, and together they drift toward a strip‑tease club where they meet Vika, a dancer who becomes part of their strange, improvised odyssey. The morning after, a Presidential Administration representative informs that the President, currently abroad, will be willing to meet Ivan in a few weeks, with travel and accommodations arranged—another ironic sign of shifting power and opportunity in the new Russia.
- The story closes on a note of hopeful beginnings: Lyuba—the devoted wife—will celebrate her birthday; Ivan, inspired by the chance to build a life anew, returns home with Yakov and Sasha, intending to start life “from scratch” and give the boy a chance at a real family.
Throughout this sprawling, character‑driven road movie, the film stitches together humor, hardship, small acts of kindness, and the stubborn resilience of ordinary people trying to find a way forward in a country that has just stepped into a new era. The journey is funny, chaotic, and tender in equal measure, balancing satirical sketches of post‑Soviet life with a steady stream of humane, hopeful moments.**
