Staff-Captain Rybnikov

The height of the Russo-Japanese War. Staff-captain Rybnikov keeps running from one government office to another trying to obtain compensation for an injury, and—almost casually—tries to find out the latest military news. In the evenings he sits in one of the shabby little restaurants and delivers speeches about the heroism of Russian soldiers and the incompetence of commanders. A loud-mouthed officer with a square jaw and slanted eyes attracts the attention of an employee of one of the Petersburg newspapers and makes him think that Rybnikov is nothing like the man he claims to be.