Kashtanov, professor of medicine and famous Moscow surgeon, is experiencing midlife crisis. Suddenly he decides to leave everything and escape to the countryside in order to spend some time with old friends.
A fat middle-aged man in German officer's uniform gets off a train somewhere in Russia in winter. He is a doctor who has just been called up we learn eventually. This is the end of the line- the Germans are about to retreat. He goes to a hospital which is being evacuated and is thrown out. Kicked...
Garpastum is a Latin word meaning ball game. Set in 1914 in St. Petersburg, the brothers Andrey and Nikolai are passionate about the matches they play on the streets. They hatch a scheme to buy a playing field. But World War I has already begun and soon their lives and dreams will be shattered.
