The action takes place during the time of Ukrainization, at the end of the 1920s. Kharkiv employee Myna Mazaylo decides to change his ukrainian surname to the russian Mazenin, as he considers it more solid.
Based on the play of the same name by Mykola Kulish.
The film is set in the 1920s and tells of a brief period of "introduction" of the Ukrainian language (Ukrainization). This is the story of one crazy person living in the same crazy world.