The director's story about his life in the Soviet Union before his departure to Israel in 1971. The movie interweaves chronicle-documentary footage and fragments of Mikhail Kalik's films.

The story about actors who will never agree to betray their theatre, even if they will have to burn themselves. And other instructions on how to behave if a whiskered man breaks into your house and wants you to leave it.

薛德里和母亲一起住在纽约一条僻静的小街上，过着平静安宁的生活。突然有一天，一名不速之客打破了这平静。薛德里被告知要到遥远的英国去继承一个古老的爵位，而现任伯爵是一个自私而冷酷的人。随着时间的推移，老伯爵冰冷的心被天真可爱的薛德里感化，但更大的危机却又出现在他的面前……