The film tells the story of an ordinary guy Anton Kandidov. First he works on agricultural work — transports on boat on Volga watermelons. Noticing how deftly Anton catches and loads watermelons, he is told that he could become a goalkeeper and play football. And he decides to follow the advice. On the way to the glory of the goalkeeper and waiting for his victory and disappointment.

The collection consists of five short stories: "The Meeting," "One of Many," "At the Old Nanny's," "One Hundred for One," and "The Incident at the Telegraph Office."

Russia, 1875: In Riazan’, Dr Pavlov is summoned to a landowner who refuses to accept the inevitability of his death; to Pavlov’s dismay, he orders the destruction of a beautiful apple orchard. 1894: Experimenting on dogs, Pavlov tries to comprehend the interaction between nerves and external signals governing digestion. In 1904, he formulates the principles of conditional reflexes. When Zvantsev, an opponent of Pavlov’s materialist worldview, leaves the laboratory, the scientist hires Varvara Ivanova who becomes his most reliable assistant. 1912: Pavlov receives an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University. 1917: Despite Pavlov’s political scepticism, the Bolshevik administration treats him with great respect.

Family troubles, reproaches from acquaintances for stupidity and inability to live, illness of children, death of his wife brought Kirill Kiselnikov down. Flattered by a bribe, he commits a forgery. Betrayal of ideals is costly: the unfortunate person loses his mind. And that is not all…