A young Lyova travels with the hope of ascent from Czarist Russia to New York. Disappointed, he returns to the young Soviet Union and is glad to have found a simple work.

The rebel leader Jose Real is allowed to leave prison for one day to visit his family. But it is a ruse to make him reveal the whereabouts of his rebel gang. This existential drama disguised as a saga about the proletarian struggle presents a lonely and insecure individual who is challenged to act more heroically than he is prepared to, but who constantly questions his confidence and loyalties.

The film is based on an ancient Chinese fairy tale about the simple people of China who despite of heavy work and oppression, did not lose belief in life and love to freedom

Not being able to implement his invention in his home country, engineer Arrowsmith, the author of the patent for ore flotation, goes to the USSR to work at one of the flotation plants, where he soon learns that a group of Soviet engineers is conducting similar work.