Plot synopsis

A night vision camera watches several children sleeping. Although there are more beds than children, they rest contentedly. A woman's voice explains the family's situation. An average day in the life of a family of Russian peasants begins, one that the audience will silently witness. The mother of the children lives with her grandmother. Both must take care of the household, earning enough money to feed themselves and the children, and send them to school. There are few job opportunities in the area where they live, so the women work milking cows. There's more work than money and most of the work is more suitable for men than women. Most of the men in the village are loafers and alcoholics, however, who prefer to squander the money earned by their wives on drink, rather than sharing their own wages with them to support the household. Juxtaposing scenes from the daily activities of the many members of the family and interviews with the mother and daughter, the filmmaker follows one day in their lives. The mother's statements and the scenes of work in the village testify to the fact that their situation is in no way exceptional. When younger, she lived under similar unfortunate circumstances, having to leave home and later her husband, never encountering love or a socially secure environment. The family's predicament is all the more tragic, because the mother's past is a vivid reflection of the present.