Fans of outstanding black and white photography will enjoy this film as that is the best feature.<br /><br />It's a simple story. A young, fresh-faced soldier (Vladimir Ivashov) gets a couple of days leave to go see his mom, but runs into several adventures along the way.<br /><br />First, he helps a one-legged soldier (Yevgeni Urbansky get home to his wife (Elza Lezhdey). Then he sneaks onto a train and runs into another stowaway (Zhanna Prokhorenko). One expected the Lieutenant (Yevgeni Teterin) to be "a terrible beast," but he was only a beast to the corrupt guard (Aleksandr Kuznetsov).<br /><br />After he and Shura (Prokhorenko) get stranded, he goes to deliver a bar of soap to a friend's wife. She has set up household with another man, and this angers the private.<br /><br />Insert beautiful music as Shura and Alyosha are on another train staring into each other's eyes.<br /><br />He leaves her in her village and travels on. The train is hit less than 10 clicks from home and he is stranded with some Ukranians traveling to the Urals. He finds a raft to get home rather than wait as his leave is almost up.<br /><br />He manages to hug and kiss his mother before he heads back to the front.