A film as a delirious dream about the physical and psychic wounds suffered by a young Russian solider in the warn in Afghanistan. Nikita Tyagunov situated the film in Afghanistan. He declared however that it was not specifically about the war in Afghanistan, but that his film is about every unjust war — be it against the Finns, Poles or Hungarians — that his country has been involved in since 1917. The theme, taken form a short story by William Faulkner, is universal and Tyagunov used Afghanistan only because the recently-ended war there would appeal most to the audience. During his military training in Tadzhikistan, protagonist Marty gets to know the girl Kamilla, who lives with her brother in a house near the training centre. An idyllic period follows which is abruptly ended when Marty and his friend ‘red-head’ have to go to the front, where the friend dies and Marty is wounded; he loses a leg. His wound and the shock of the experience at the front mean that Marty loses contact with reality and lives on in a nightmare-like fantasy world in which his red-haired friend appears and his amputated leg leads a life of its own.He tries to conquer his insanity by leading an extremely disciplined and adjusted life, but it is as if a second ego lives on in the nightmare world. When Kamilla’s brother turns up to avenge the death of his sister, the terrible truth starts to dawn on Marty and he prepares to make a dramatic decision.
