Sumptuous filming of the journey of a shipwrecked Japanese expedition from the Pacific Ocean across Siberia to the court of Catherine the Great of Russia. A Russo-Japanese co-production of a unique event in history which was the hit of Cannes and other film festivals but did not receive wide distribution despite its huge scope, high production values, and very human story of culture clash.

The corpse of a young beautiful woman, the owner of a well-furnished home, was discovered in the apartment. Inspector Gurov rejects the robbery version: nothing was touched in the apartment. Four are suspected: the husband of the murdered woman, her friend, a neighbor on the landing and an elevator operator...