An absurdist allegory of the absorption of Georgia into the Soviet Union, a man's apartment is overrun by 'lodgers' who takeover the apartment, restrict his movements, and put him in a birdcage.

On the outskirts of the modern city, an old mill stands. Townspeople come here to grind corn, while waiting for their turn, they share memories of the past, discuss present concerns, joke, and argue.

In the southern region of Georgia, in ancient Meskheti, a young man, Giorgi Toreli, is appointed as the secretary of the Raikom. He aims at the revival of his native region and for this he begins to fight against bureaucracy, autocracy, corruption, prevailing inertia.

The film tells the life of a Georgian woman from 1920s to the present day. Love, marriage, Russian annexation and collectivization, world war, loss of children - Sidonia went through many sorrows and troubles on her way of life, but she always maintained spiritual courage and hope for the future.

Kvarkvare is wrongly accused of activities against the Tsar and is imprisoned, but the Socialist Revolution makes him an imposter "hero". Blinded with the authority, he goes to far in his avenge against the whole village.