Russian Empire, 19th century. Poor Nykanor leaves his village and becomes a miner in the Donbas. His son Ostap also becomes a miner and works in the mine for thirty years, but after his father's sudden dismissal, he realizes that the state system needs radical changes.

Little dog Kashtanka is stolen, sold, tossed out into the street and saved by a clown. Young Fedyushka gets lost looking for the dog and ends up a prisoner of the sinister Mazamet who compels him to rove from house to house to make money, while Fedyushka’s father wanders through the streets in search of his lost child.