Ivan is old Russia: thick, dour, hard-working, often brutish; he misses Communism. He drives a taxi and one night meets Alexi, a new Russian, a musician, an alcoholic, irresponsible. Alexi stiffs Ivan for the fare, so Ivan tracks him down and a love-hate relationship ensues. When Alexi lets the bath water run over in Ivan's flat and Ivan must pay 500 rubles for repairs, he tries to force Alexi into day labor to repay him. It's hopeless. Then, suddenly, Alexi is discovered, goes on a jazz tour of America, becomes a celebrity, and returns in triumph. Ivan longs to renew the friendship, and it looks as if he may get what he wants.

Double Passing (Dvoynoy obgon) is a 1984 Soviet crime movie directed by Aleksandr Gordon. Truckers Viktor and Ivan Petrovich transport a valuable cargo on a highway in uninhabited territory in the South of USSR. A pair of criminals, seasoned "Bug" and young and ill-tempered "Lyon'ka", hijack the truck. Capt. Madzhiev of the road patrol chases the truck while the truckers are hold by criminals and their life is in grave danger.

Events take place in the White Sea, 1942. New recruit Andrei Bulygin is assigned as an assistant machine gunner on a small ship that delivers soldiers and weapons to the front line. On the way back, German fighters sink the ship, leaving only Andrei alive. Having got out on the ice, he enters into an unequal battle with the cold and the German pilot von Bettger attacking him from the air...