"The smallest details (a stammering child, the wrinkle in the turned page of a book) stick like burrs, and we are left to wonder if any director has delved with more modesty and honesty into the heartbreak of the past." Anthony Lane, New Yorker

A dying poet recalls events of his childhood during World War II as well as key moments of the Russian people during the tumultuous events of the 20th century.  Flashbacks, newsreel footage and original poetry are combined to create an impressionistic and dream-like film that has been compared to the stream of consciousness technique of the modernist movement.