During the war, the Nazis took the breeding horse Zarnitsa, winner of many international races, to Germany. But the horse refused to obey its new owner, jockey Shoiberg. Therefore, he was forced to release from captivity stableman Grigory, who took care of Zarnitsa before the war. Taking advantage of the situation, the stableman tried to escape and died. And Scheuberg decided to ride Zarnitsa after all, but at the finish line she threw off her rider and ran away. She was found and returned to her owner, and despite this, she tried many times to escape from captivity. Only at the very end of the war she was found by the stableman's son Lenka....

An orphan named Nikolay Najdenov went through the hell of the war in Afghanistan and the horrors of captivity. From now on he is a US citizen and his name is Nick McCann. In the US he has a family and new life, but in his country of birth, Ukraine, there are still some unpaid bills remaining, so the tough American boy goes back to his home country, where he learns about the death of his best friend, and soon after that his friend's wife got killed, too. Naydenov decides to revenge their death...

The film tells the story of the difficult and tragic fate of a Prykarpattia family over several generations. The events take place in the difficult 30s and 40s. Zhmeniak's father tries to gather more land in his possession by all means. But not everyone understands that he will divide all that land between his children when it comes time to die anyway, and they are simply jealous of his possessions. Meanwhile, the children have their own dramas and tragedies, because it's one thing to love someone, and another thing to know what the father thinks about it, and who he sees as wives for his sons. And then there are changes of government, and then there is the war...

The tenth graders decided to spend their last summer vacation together in a labor camp. The boys not only had a great time, but also taught their bosses a good lesson in hard work, careful handling of tools, and most importantly, honesty, and weaned their foremen off of padding for a long time.

In the late 50s, after twenty years in prison on charges of spreading malicious rumors, and now rehabilitated, Afanasy returns to the house from which his neighbors survived...