The film, a series of vignettes from Russia past and present, summons the spirit of Ophuls' La ronde, Altman's Nashville and Short Cuts, and the time-shifting strategies of Resnais (Mon oncle d'Amerique), to tell provocative, connected stories, illustrating the waltz of years and the whim of memory. In 1948, a young man, a boy, and a waiter are captivated during a full moon by a mysterious woman in a lilac dress. The effects of this event ripple across the years, washing over more than 80 characters, including a disc jockey, a fairy princess, a gangster, Alexander Pushkin, and a nostalgic dog. But which of these are dreams and which reality?