At the beginning of the 1941 war, a young talented artist Igor and his theater were evacuated to Tashkent. Here he meets music teacher Olga, who is seriously ill with malaria. Igor understands that only treatment in the capital will save the girl. But they are allowed into Moscow only on special passes. And then Igor almost by force drags Olga to the registry office. Feeling responsible for the girl, Igor begins to patronize her more and more...
The bourgeois wedding of Dekabryukhova is interrupted by the machine-gun fire of revolution. He flees abroad, leaving his wife. Oktyabryukhov stays and adapts to the new life. At the end of the picture there is an attempt at universal reconciliation and the poet's tormenting theme "three-way love". Dekabryuhov returns to his homeland. His wife is already married to Oktyabryukhov. Having learned about it, Dekabryukhov tries to leave, but the newlyweds force him to stay.