本片讲述了惯窃犯叶果尔刑满出狱后，遭到家乡的排斥，没有人欢迎他的回来。只好投靠城郊农场的女友柳芭，他是在监狱时通过书信往来结识的柳芭。虽然柳芭家里的人也不欢迎叶果尔，但他还是想务农成为一个自食其力的劳动者，终于如愿成为拖拉机手，成功塑造了叶果尔这个复杂的矛盾体。故事最终以叶果尔死于“老巢”盗窃头子的枪下而结束。

本片获全苏电影节大奖和最佳男演员奖。这是瓦西里·舒克申第一次自编、自导、自演的影片，是舒克申创作思想趋于成熟的代表作，也是他的绝唱，反映出他对哲理性的追求。

年轻的伊戈尔维奇是一位卡车司机，在出差旅途中，遇到了不同的人，经历着不同的事情。他的性格善良乐观，开着卡车，热爱生活、乐于助人、勤劳勇敢，不过经常会撒些小谎，开开玩笑。他遇到了让他心动的女孩儿娜思佳，随即展开攻势，但她早已心属工程师基安。他又尽力撮合康德拉舅舅和阿尼斯婶婶。他奉命给卡车加油，在加油站，一辆卡车却突遭大火，随时都有爆炸的可能。他冒着生命危险，迅速将起火的卡车驶向一个斜坡，并因此受伤了。瓦西里·舒克申根据自己的短篇小说改编，采用段落化的叙事方式，以一种轻松愉悦的氛围，阐述着何为幸福的主题。

A sadly humorous story about a Siberian tractor driver, Ivan Rastorguyev (Vasili Shukshin), traveling with his wife (Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina) to a Black Sea resort, and about their first visit to Moscow.
The village life, with its people, songs and drinking party, was photographed almost in a documentary-film manner (the shooting took place in Shukshin’s homeland — the Altai Region), while the travel itself is packed with anecdotal, funny situations which provoke a lot of sympathy and even a slight feeling of sadness. Shukshin does not spare the comedy palette in portraying his character, even if empathizing with him. For, according to Shukshin, it is those Ivans who are the salt of the earth. The theme of a provincial guy in a big city is always interesting and, therefore, is a sure win, but the most precious thing in this never-aging film is the personality of the talented actor, writer and director Vasili Shukshin, hence the psychological depth in the presentation of the story.