At the funeral banquet, after the death of his beloved mother, Misha decides to run away from his relatives. Wandering around the city, he meets a sex worker who may be able to make up for his loss.

Young scientist Alexey Romanovich invites all his colleagues interested in his experiment. 
Among the guests are collector, the member of the Scientific Council, also we see the father and son, who are devoted to science, 
but, clearly, have different intentions for the Alexey Romanov's experiment.
The real reason of the scientific project's presentation is the mentor of Alexei Romanovich - Pavel Egorovich.
At the scheduled time, everyone comes to the laboratory of young scientist.

Gennady Shpalikov. He was 25 when he offered George Danelia a script for the future film “I walk through Moscow”. At this time, Shpalikov was already finishing the script for Ilyich's Outpost for Marlen Khutsiyev! Both of these films will be called the manifesto of the generation of the sixties, the symbols of the era called "thaw". All his life he had dreamed of “The Quay” ... This script was his favorite work. But “Berth” was never staged "..." "There is no choice in the USSR. Or you drink, or you freak out, or you are not printed. The fourth is not given.

The young scientist Alexey invites his colleagues to present his invention. The real reason for the presentation lies in the teacher Alexey, whom he wants to publicly surpass.