Tanya Gubidelnikova

A Turkish consul travels to a Soviet city in the worst times of Stalinism. There, he falls in love with his secretary, a fervent communist.

Elka has a family and a house in the village, but she dreams of living in the city. To get an apartment, she gives a bribe to Maria. Maria is an honest woman. But she is forced to take a bribe to deliver medicine to her sick father. Elka became the cause of the degradation of an honest woman.

Two friends from their student years are dating. One of them is the director of a peasant school, and the other is an impresario in show business. Memories bring them back to their youth. What have they lost and what have they kept over the years? These questions are answered by the heroes at dawn, after a stormy night.