Description:

A parable about Man, War and Peace. From time immemorial, War has destroyed everything created by Man. But the time has come and the hands of the People will be able to unite and protect the World.

A peasant is sowing wheat and tending an apple tree, enjoying a quiet life, when a black lord comes, in the guise of a knight, and orders him to go to war with an axe in his hands. The man goes through many battles until he is left alone in the last massacre and is able to return home, not forgetting the horrors he had seen. When he sows the field again and forges himself a new sickle, a woman comes to the man and together they begin to dream of a happy future. But these dreams are again interrupted by the black lord, now living in a 19th century government house, who again calls him to war, but this time gives him a gun. The war stops again when piles of corpses lie on the field, and no one is waiting for the hero at home.

The man begins to build his life in the Soviet Union together with his growing son. But then the tramp of thousands of boots and the roar of hundreds of planes are heard, the house built by the hero explodes and the son dies. The Black Lord has taken on his new appearance - a fascist commander. But this time the man is not going to serve him and, together with the Red Army, goes into battle with his true enemy. The dark army is finally defeated, but the pain of loss still echoes bitterly in the man's heart.

The hero starts all over again, returning the world to its former colors and life. But then the Black Lord unexpectedly returns, now in the guise of a modern general, and instead of fortress walls, he has missiles and nuclear weapons. He does not want to fight with his own hands, and therefore sends a robot puppet that looks like a man to press a button that should begin the end. However, the man, along with other such men, stops the robot and the threat is over. The man finds himself a wife again and they have a son, and they live happily ever after.

This animated film is interesting not only for its complicated history (it was started by Ivan Aksenchuk and its concept was criticized by the author), but also for the presence, in addition to the script by Nazim Hikmet, of direct references to the works of another famous poet at that time - Eduardas Meželaitis. In particular, in the scene of the creation of the space bridge, the music directly follows the corresponding text of the poem "Man" (in his memoirs, Igor Nikolaev mentioned his intention to film it). Irony of fate: twenty years later, Rozaliya Zelma's film "Blue Ball", also based on the poems of Nazim Hikmet, would contain a reference to the poetry of Rasul Gamzatov.

This is the only film directed by Viktor Nikitin, who was one of the finest art directors that worked at Soyuzmultfilm in his time (1951-1986).

The two videos above are similar in quality, except that one has a logo in the bottom left corner. There is also a better scan of this film (from Betacam SP, done in February 2025), but has not been uploaded to video sharing sites.