In 1920, just 3 years after the October revolution, the peoples had to decide between conforming to Bolshevism or national self-determination. In that torn-apart-time, one man, the comedian Volodya, tries to mediate, not between different ideologies, but social life and art. While others just want to wash away their gloom, he reflects on the everyday sorrows and the role of art in that time of changes.