The film marked the directorial debut of Russian director Aleksei German, who co-directed it with Grigori Aronov.

Eugene Pavlovich Adamov, general of the royal army and professor at the Military Academy of Law, is arrested and placed in a kind of "room" which is arranged as a prisoner's cell.

Being an honest and principled man, Adamov in 1905 refused to bring charges against two sailors, who had disobeyed their captain's criminal orders.

However, as he investigates the murders of the military confiscation unit ("prodotryad") members, the general is faced with an attempt of lawlessness on the part of the "reds" and resolutely tries to prevent this.

Alas, no one listens to Adamov, innocent people are shot without trial, and the general himself falls into the hands of the "whites".