Kolka, a young man in his prime, decides to abandon the city life and the university degree he is about to get and goes back to his roots. He settles down with his parents in a remote village in northern Russia, becoming one of the local sovkhoz shepherds. He does get used to village life, but fate does not treat him well, and his dreams fail one after another: his girlfriend soon leaves him and goes back to Moscow; his attempts to find another woman are unsuccessful because he is said to stink of the cows he keeps; his father dies and Kolka spends a whole day walking in the snow pulling the coffin to bury him; his sister drinks herself to death. Kolka takes everything as it comes, accepting the harshness of it. He gradually transforms into a solitary, dark, silent peasant, who mostly murmurs to himself and frightens the villagers.
There is an undercurrent of religious references that may speak to some, with several quotes from the Bible that refer to man's place in the world.
Apart from the tragic story of Kolka, the film is a celebration of nature. More is said with images and silence than with words. The four classical elements, water, earth, air and fire, are overpresent in the film. Beautifully filmed water, rain, thunder, trees, grass. Fantastic takes of nature from the air (mostly from balloons). It is a vibrant nature, full of sounds from beginning to end. The soundtrack is very rich, a real treat for birdwatchers.
