A former white officer, and now an employee of the NKVD, martial artist Viktor Spiridonov meets the disgraced Soviet intelligence agent Vasily Oshchepkov, who studied judo in Japan for a long time. They quickly find a common language, because both are obsessed with the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a national art of self-defense. But the joint work soon turns into an irreconcilable confrontation. Intrigues, betrayal, emotions will predetermine the tragic fate of the two great creators of sambo.
Moscow, 1902. The famous director Konstantin Stanislavsky, in search of inspiration for staging a new play, decides to get acquainted with the life of the city "bottom". He turns to Vladimir Gilyarovsky, a recognized expert on the Moscow slums, for help.
