1970s Moscow. Vanya Morozov is a teacher of English Literature. Not a party member, he views life and politics with a detached irony, and his main aim is to lead a quiet life. That is until his past starts to catch up with him. Twelve years earlier he and three other students spent an intense summer in the country. Since then their paths diverged - Tanya became a passionate film director; Alik an ambitious careerist and rising star in the KGB; and Lyuba, dreamy and idealistic, caught up in a strange underground movement. As a bureaucratic power struggle turns into something darker, the four are drawn together once again, as the Western Intelligence Agencies are alerted. As the action shifts from Moscow to Leningrad and finally to the snow-covered forests of the Volgoda regions, Vanya is forced to abandon his detachment and fight for his survival, and that of the girl he loves.