The legendary commander of the Civil War, the winner of Wrangel arrives in the capital at the call of Stalin. In the capital, he is perplexed to learn that the Politburo at a special meeting decided to force him to operate on a long-standing ulcer. The attending physician is convinced that the operation is not needed, but, obeying party discipline, the old Bolshevik lies on the operating table.
Falling Star is based on three stories by the contemporary Russian writer Viktor Astafyev and centers on a young soldier on the front lines who is wounded and taken to the hospital. Once there, he muses about his childhood and a little girl he had loved - someone who could easily have grown up to be the nurse that is attending to him now. As he recuperates, he and the nurse fall in love and he very much wants to marry her. At this point, the nurse's mother comes for a visit and advises him against such an action because if they were to marry and he were subsequently killed or maimed in action - the fighting is still close to the hospital - the nurse would suffer much more than if he just left her alone. Now it is up to the soldier to make a decision one way or the other.
Parrot, Monkey and Elephant are excited to understand how long their friend Boa is. They finally arrive to the result, though it is measured in quite a strange fashion.
The film tells us about the circus horse made of wooden balls who became the best actor in the circus. Yuri Norstein was it's sole animator. His handling of puppets and decor created a rare elegant beauty. Being known as the worlds greatest puppet animation director, many people in the west forget that he was animator too.
