A reflective journey of aging Soviet men navigating surreal encounters and confronting the end of their youth and military service.
Story Structure — 4 Plot Phases
The Drafted Reserves
Six middle-aged Soviet men are conscripted for military exercises and face a simulated annihilation. Stranded after missing their return train, they abandon civilian life and declare themselves spirits to continue the war game.
Key Events
Military Draft Assembly — Six forty-year-old men are cut off from ordinary life by military draft. Characters: Kostin, ChemistLocation: Soviet Union Training Grounds
Cross-Section Introduction — Men represent diverse professions: astronomer, butcher, worker, loader, architect, deputy. Characters: KostinLocation: Assembly Camp
Artillery Battery Destruction — Their battery completes a task but is destroyed by the enemy in simulation.
Location: Training Field
Simulated Death Order — Heroes are ordered by command to seemingly die and remain in reserve.
Location: Training Field
Missed Return Train — The group misses the train back to the city, becoming stranded.
Location: Station Platform
The Transcendental Journey
The detachment wanders through surreal landscapes, avoiding a city of temptation and crossing rivers. They gain a traveling chemist and arrive at a retirement home, shifting from military focus to wandering exploration.
Key Events
Missed Return Train — The group misses the train back to the city, becoming stranded.
Location: Station Platform
Spirit Declaration — Treated as spirits from another world, they decide to finish the war game.
Location: Station Platform
City of Solitary Women — Detachment reaches a city populated only by beautiful and solitary women.
Location: Unknown City
River Crossing & Island Night — They sail across the river to escape temptation and spend night on island.
Location: Riverbank
The Retirement Home Interlude
Bureaucratic errors grant them technician status, and Kostin is mistaken for a lost son. He plays the role while reflecting on his own regrets, culminating in a shared evening observation of a celestial event.
Key Events
River Crossing & Island Night — They sail across the river to escape temptation and spend night on island.
Location: Riverbank
Traveling Chemist Joins — Traveling chemist is taken along by the growing detachment. Characters: ChemistLocation: Island Camp
Retirement Home Arrival — Group ends up at a retirement home after leaving the island. Characters: ChemistLocation: Retirement Home
Clerk Mistake — By clerical error, they are registered as repair construction technicians.
Location: Retirement Home Lobby
The Final Parade and Departure
The group rests in open fields and marches on foot to the city. Realizing their youth and military drills have permanently ended, they part ways like planets aligning briefly before flying apart forever.
Key Events
Clerk Mistake — By clerical error, they are registered as repair construction technicians.
Location: Retirement Home Lobby
Old Lady Encounter — Feeble-minded old lady mistakes Kostin for her war-disappeared son Fedya. Characters: KostinLocation: Retirement Home Room
Role Assumption — Circumstances force Kostin to play the role of Fedya for several hours. Characters: KostinLocation: Retirement Home
Life Summation — Kostin reflects on the unpleasant aspects of his own life while in character. Characters: KostinLocation: Retirement Home
Evening Gathering — Seven travelers and elderly inhabitants gather late in the evening. Characters: Kostin, ChemistLocation: Retirement Home Courtyard
Planet Parade Observation — Group tries to observe the mysterious planet parade together. Characters: Kostin, ChemistLocation: Retirement Home
Open Field Rest — Team spends night in open field near the village before continuing.
Location: Village Guskovo Fields
Foot March to City — Entire group travels all the way to the city on foot.
Location: Country Roads
Realization of End — Men part ways, realizing military assemblies and exercises will not happen again.
Location: City Outskirts
Youth Departure — They acknowledge the last stop in their departing youth has been reached.
Location: City Outskirts
Final Separation — Like planets with different orbits, they fly apart forever after a brief alignment. Characters: Kostin, ChemistLocation: City Streets
Eternal Orbit Acceptance — The group accepts they likely will not meet again, cementing their transient bond.
Location: Metaphorical Space
Story Breakdown
Conscription Reality — Introduction of the six men and their forced separation from civilian life.
Military Draft Order — Men are cut off from ordinary life by reservist draft.
Technician Misidentification — Clerk mistake grants them retirement home shelter.
Son Substitute Role — Kostin plays missing son Fedya for grieving woman.
Cosmic Reflection — Shared observation of celestial events triggers personal reckoning.
Parade Observation — Group gathers to watch mysterious planetary alignment.
Regret Summation — Kostin evaluates unhappy aspects of his past life.
Eternal Separation — Acceptance of mortality, aging, and permanent parting.
Final Foot March — Group walks to city, acknowledging end of drills.
Planetary Divergence — Men part ways forever, mirroring orbiting planets.
A rare astronomical phenomenon — the parade of planets — has a strange effect on several men. The heroes of the film — an astrophysicist, locksmith, salesman, architect, loader, trolley bus driver — are called up for military training, which ends ahead of time. There is a strange pause in their life — no one knows where they are, no one is waiting for them, and they themselves can not rush anywhere. This short respite in a hasty and busy life gives the heroes the opportunity to experience strong and very important feelings for them.
