An academic heads to Leningrad to attend the funeral of an old friend.

The film is set in Lithuania after the Second World War. It shows dramatic events in a small Lithuanian farming community, where people are split between the Soviets and the "brothers in the woods", who are fighting to defend their land from the Soviets after the end of the Second World War.

Based on a short story by Anton Chekhov, this drama centers around a desire for revenge and the tragedy of a star-crossed love. After a general ruins some men under him in punishment for a rebellion, a friend of the broken men vows revenge. The friend, a naval officer, takes a job as a valet in the general's son's house. While he plots his revenge, the son has an affair with a woman whom the valet begins to love. She is discarded after becoming pregnant, and the valet has his own troubles; he has contracted tuberculosis. Sick and unable to follow through on his plans for vengeance, he leaves for France with the pregnant woman hoping to declare his love and seek a cure for his illness.

共产党组织决定用挖地道的办法营救狱中的同志，87公尺的地道挖了4年。这期间党内出现分歧。弗朗西斯科反对左倾冒进，认为需要冷静对待。挖地道虽然费时，但稳扎稳打。终能达到目的，而贝涅吉克多是左倾激进分子，他主张用激烈的暴力手段。他不请示组织，单独绑架了陆军部长的哥哥作为人质，企图换取二名议员。失败后，他义企图暗杀陆军部长，又告失败。贝涅吉克多在接二连三的挫折面前以自杀结束性命。而弗朗西斯科和其他革命者... 影片通过一个虚构的故事表现的革命斗争中的两条路线，主题是有积极意义的。通过对贝捏吉克多的形象刻画，批判了革命斗争中的左倾机会主义，冒险主义和盲动主义。但影片的创作在一定程度上是为了配合当时苏共的对外路线，因此带有比较明显的说教意味。不过，影片故事曲折紧张，悬念丛生，很像—部惊险片。同时，影片人物刻画也有独到之．特别是对贝涅吉克多的心理描绘真实可信，演员的表演也生动自然，恰到好处。