This uncompromising work begins with the haunting, enigmatic image of a man who walks along an empty, snowy road, struggling against the wind; suddenly, bending as if kneeling in prayer, he vanishes as snow fills the screen. The man, it turns out, is heading to a Siberian village to bury his father, and the harsh, bone-chilling landscape he trudges across sets the tone for this mournful human story—a harsh, unsentimental view of family relationships and death. Though the narrative is spare, Sokurov suggests much through his rich compositions and shifts from monochrome to scenes of clear, delicate color.