Using an elaborate system of denunciation, the chief of the Zone keeps his prisoners in check. A new inmate, allegedly imprisoned for speculating on postage stamps, tries to rebel against the system.
A son comes to Leningrad on the birthday of his mother. He is the director of a large Siberian construction, twice married, happy in work, and in family life. His second wife Lida is also here. She brought her son and daughter with her. The youth of the mother of the family fell on the 30s. Life practically did not change its principles and beliefs. And it's not clear to her children, and even more so grandchildren, for whom her ideals do not mean anything.
A young teenage boy zealously tracks down criminals in this allegorical drama. Using the code name of Plumbum, Ruslan Chutko (Anton Androsov) delights in the pursuits of lawbreakers before informing the police, and he even turns in his own father when he catches him poaching fish. The questions are left to the viewer whether or not Plumbum is a crusading hero or a scoundrel. Western audiences may find the premise implausible, but children were known to inform on their own parents under the regime of Josef Stalin and others.
