This touching Russian film tells of an elderly couple whose zest for life allows them to begin anew when their farm burns down. Instead of going to live in comfort with one of their sons, they choose to visit their trouble daughter, Nina. She had married a miner and settled in a hamlet above the Arctic Circle. Upon arrival, the situation they encounter is worse than expected -- Nina has run away with a lover, abandoning her husband and infant. The couple save their son-in-law from alcoholism and and remain on in the frigid climate to care for the household. Conflicts arise when their wayward daughter returns. This at times provocative movie was Russia's entry in the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.