In the 1880s, the Tuvan arats rebelled against the enslaving noyons. The uprising was brutally suppressed. With ethnographic accuracy, the film recreates the patriarchal life of the Tuvans, their morals and customs.

The film takes us to the Far North. A criminal escapes from prison, and on his way through the tundra meets an old native man who is carriying the salaries of reindeer breeders. Their joint struggle for survival results in the spiritual purification of the protagonist.