On the motives of Saltikov-Shedrin’s fairy tale, The film derides aimless and senseless being.

Based on one of Turgenev's Hunter's Sketches: the Lone Wolf of the title is a forest caretaker for a flippant aristocrat. Though he lives in absolute misery in a hut deep in the woods with two small children to take care of, he's feared for his merciless stalking of the starving serfs who sneak in to cut firewood.