Based on the novel The Gambler by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.

Based on the play "The Last Victim" by Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky.

The court jester Ivan Balakirev is not afraid to speak out to the fearsome monarch about things that others remain silent about. Becoming involved in the festivities and jests encouraged by the ruler, he inadvertently gets entangled in court intrigues and the complex relationships within the family of Peter the Great.

Pyotr's jester Ivan Balakirev is caught up in complicated family relations of Russian emperor and palace intrigues of his court.

It is dedicated to the memory of Heinrich Zveinek, the first commissar of the Inzen Division, who died during the defense of Lugansk and was buried on Red Square.