Former soldier Pyotr Vlasov, now the director of a technical school, lives in a small town above the Arctic Circle. His son has vanished. Evidence indicates that the young man disappeared the day after tattooing a swastika on the back of his head. The investigation turns up a suspect, but the kidnapper is actuallyPyotr himself. Upon seeing his son with that repulsive tattoo, Pyotr decides to lock the young man in a basement to reducate him.He spends all his free time writing letters with the tenets of his ideology and reads them to his son when he visits him. Vlasov realizes that his son has taken a path that he finds repugnant. Vlasov is a patriot of his homeland. He believes the country lives surrounded by enemies, with plenty within as well. Now, perhaps even his own son numbers among them...