[1] The almost entirely silent film is split into five parts and follows Levko Serdyuk, an elderly peasant who lives alone on the edge of a desert, his wife and eldest son having died, and his younger children having moved away to the city.
Levko looks at photographs and recollects the history of his life, including his children leaving home; his wife dying; and his eldest son, a soldier, being killed in action.
[2] It has been claimed that Parajanov, after seeing the film for the first time, compared Ilyenko to Alexander Dovzhenko and called A Spring for the Thirsty "a huge victory for cinema... so what that it is anti-Soviet?
[7] A Spring for the Thirsty has received critical acclaim for its simplicity, its black and white cinematography, and its innovative use of sound, though it has been both praised and criticised for alienating audiences due to its abstract and surrealist themes.
TV Guide gave the film 3.5 out of 4, calling it "an abstract visual work and not for the average moviegoer... a colossal treasure for those who appreciate the majestic power of simplicity".
Arzamas said "it was difficult to imagine a film that is more non-Soviet in aesthetics", and attributed this, in addition to its ideological and moral content, to its censorship by the Soviet government.