The times of serfdom in Latvia. Brothers Tom, Michelis and Andris, driven to despair by the cruelty of the Dormuizh landowner, decide to start a liberation struggle. Tom and Michelis go into the forest and tame a wolf pack there. Taking advantage of the folk legend that a person can turn into a werewolf and live in his guise, the brothers intend to fight the German barons with the help of a wolf pack controlled by them and a messenger Andris, who has remained in the village for the time being...
The 1980s. Kārlis did his military service in Afghanistan and is now confined to a wheelchair. Before he left, he had fallen in love with the teacher Judīte, but she has now married a rich man...and poses nude for Kārlis' neighbour, the cynical photographer Rūdofs. Soon Rūdolfs is found dead, and Kārlis admits to having murdered him. But investigator Konrāds suspects that Kārlis is incriminating himself.
A homage to Krišjānis Barons and his life's work – to collect and catalogue Latvian folksongs or dainas,thus creating the encyclopaedia of Latvian life, a poetic reflection of the knowledge of life accumulated over the centuries. The film is based on Krišjānis Barons' life during late 1800s and early 1900s – his childhood and youth in Latvia, studies and work in St. Petersburg and other places in Russia, his relationship with his faithful wife Dārta, and the awakening of the Latvian self-awareness.
