Based on the motifs of M. Bulhakow's story with the same title. The thing about the scientist-zoologist Persikow, whose unique invention makes the rate of formation and development of organisms grow thousands of times. The experiment subjects eggs of the anaconda, which by mistake go to the mad director of the model chicken farm, dealing with rebuilding the hen population in the country. Irradiated reptiles, hatching from eggs, start to devour.

The action takes place in a small Ural village beginning the War. The protagonist returns to his native place several years after the war and finds out that he is considered missed in action. The story about people whose quiet life was ruined by the War. The film reveals the tragedy of the whole nation.

A provincial Russian city in the era of the Khrushchev thaw. Against the background of historical changes, the fates of the heroes unfold, and among them the young Violetta. Before becoming an actress, the heroine goes through a difficult path of trials and temptations.

Two middle-aged couples live in two-handed village huts: the Zvyagintsev's and the Arefyev's. Once the wives, tired of family life, decided to exchange husbands. Between old neighbors and good friends, a cheerful quadrille begins with a constant change of partners. Without wanting it, a lonely woman Makeyevna takes part in it for the last time, slowly dragging bricks from the Zvyagintsev's yard.

In a remote Siberian village, a work injury sends Vasily Kuziakin on a paid trip to a Black Sea resort as compensation. There, he meets femme fatale Raisa Zaharovna and decides to stay with her. Such is the beginning of a new life for him, exciting and strange, but lacking his home, his wife and children, and his pigeons.

Six-year-old Marka lives with her mother and grandmother in a village near the railway. The girl's mother, who has lost her husband, is concerned about her unhappy fate. She doesn't care about her little daughter. One day, Marka finds an old book with an illustration of Kramskoy's painting "The Unknown" in a waste paper warehouse. The image in the book fascinates the girl, and she takes the find with her.