The life story of a young man in modern Georgia, covering the “stagnant years”, prison, criminal activity after release, suicide.

Four sons in the Kirile family - Otar, Nodar, Make and the younger Guram. And all the brothers immediately ask permission to marry. The head of the institute's folk song branch turns to Guram for help in finding rare motives. Guram goes to his native village, where he wants to record songs performed by local elders. At the same time, he wants to marry Nelli, but his parents are against it: it seems to them that he is still too young to marry.

Wandering minstrel Ashik Kerib falls in love with a rich merchant's daughter, but is spurned by her father and forced to roam the world for a thousand and one nights. Now presumed dead by those he loves, he performs for the poor and unfortunate on his journeys through the wilderness. Parajanov's visually ravishing 'tableaux vivants' tell Lermontov's romantic tale while Turkish and Azerbaijani folk songs transport us into its mystical landscapes.