Set during the last days of the civil war that followed the Russian Revolution. The Crimea Peninsula is the last stronghold of the White Guard, and the Red Army is planning the final assault. The first story line of the movie follows two Red Army soldiers unlikely friends Nekrasov and Karyakin. The second story line is about a White Guard officer Brusentsov who is devoted to Russia and his cause but sees it being destroyed day by day.
Michael Schäffer is among the Westerners whose families are killed in the great tsunami while on holiday at Thailand's Phuket beach. So is Billi Cramer, who is less introvert and hence accepts a Greek international relief force therapist's advice to seek contact with a compatriot in the same position. They got on so well there may be a real relationship in the making, but the grief still weighs heavily.