This tribute to legendary Russian singer Fyodor Chaliapin centers on the removal of the basso’s body from the Batignolles cemetery in Paris to Novo-Devitchye cemetery in Moscow. Chaliapin was censored for emigrating from Russia to the west; this film was censored as well.

This meditation on the coalition of the USSR, Great Britain, and the US during WWII employs archival footage from the different countries as Sokurov incorporates images of the allied leaders into a mosaic of real but anonymous people. Creating unexpected moments through editing and music that aid viewers to draw new associations from the archive of imagery, the film suggests the important role that average citizens played in the outcome of the war.