The film is set during the Great Patriotic War and tells about the romance between an intelligent young man, Evgeny «Zhenya» Kolyshkin, who is a guardians soldier, and the communications officer Evgeniya «Zhenechka» Zemlyanikina.

Guards Private Evgeniy Kolyshkin (Oleg Dal), a young intellectual from Moscow, returns to the frontlines after recovering in a hospital during the Great Patriotic War.

His dreamy and naive nature often leads to comical misunderstandings and blunders, much to the frustration of his unit commander, Guards Lieutenant Romadin (Georgy Shtil).

Despite his well-meaning efforts, Kolyshkin's behavior frequently results in headaches for Romadin, who tries to manage the challenges of commanding amidst the chaos of war.

Kolyshkin, once full of romantic ideals and youthful exuberance, stands apart from the celebration, silently weeping as he mourns the woman he loved and the innocence he has lost.

Unlike the young director, Bulat Okudzhava was a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and contributed small but important details to the script, dialogues and images that were inaccessible to Motyl.

For example, the dialogue for the scene, when Zahar Kosykh overhears Zhenya and Zhenechka talking on the phone and takes it at his own expense, was completely written by Okudzhava.

The scene in the Baltic, where Zemlyanikina and Kolyshkin get separated by a few steps and end up failing to meet, came to the director from a personal tragedy experienced in childhood.

An additional barrier was Bulat Okudzhava's participation in the writing of the script, which, according to Motyl, was "under suspicion," since he did not submit to anyone, and his books were severely criticized by the press.

[1] Subsequently, Dahl confessed to Motyl that having been expelled from all theaters for the disruption of performances, he suffered greatly without work, and Kolyshkin's role became a "salvation" for him.

[3] During work on the script, both authors confessed to each other that in their youth they were scrawny and ungainly and fell in love with strong and powerful girls who talked to them in a highly mocking manner.

[3] In this regard, the image of Zhenechka Zemlyanikina in the imagination of Vladimir Motyl was formed in advance: the director was looking for a charming and attractive woman, "a little rough in appearance".

Contrary to the point of view of the leaders of Lenfilm who insisted on the nomination of Natalya Kustinskaya, Motyl considered the actress "infinitely distant" from the front-line soldier conceived by him, since "there was no organic coarseness of the belligerent communications officer".

[2] In between the shooting, Oleg Dahl, Pavel Morozenko and Mikhail Kokshenov walked around the city in military uniforms of the 1943 model, as a result of which the local population often took them for conscripted soldiers.

[4] Quite often there were other funny events: Dahl and Kokshenov, who used to drive the Willys MB in a complete outfit (including automatic weapons), repeatedly attracted the attention of the military patrol.

The military actors answered the questions, calling non-existent and absurd troops, such as "Separate part of the railway fleet" or "Sea cavalry".

The press was full of harsh and insulting comments, the film was shown "underground", at clubs and outskirts cinemas, but it had a considerable resonance with the viewer.

After collecting a lot of such reviews, Motyl sent a telegram to Alexei Kosygin, chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, who, though indifferent to the film, regarded it as a profitable product that would attract a large number of spectators.