The Destiny of a Man

Andrei Sokolov (Sergei Bondarchuk) hopes that his warrior days are behind him after the civil war as he settles down with sweetheart Irina (Zinaida Kirienko) and starts a family. Sadly for him, the Nazis don't share his desires for a peaceable life and so he is duly conscripted into the Soviet army. Like many of his counterparts, he waves goodbye to his family promising to return but having no real idea when or if he shall. After escaping from a Nazi concentration camp, Sokolov learns that his wife and daughters have died in the bombing of Voronezh, and only his son remains - an officer who dies on the last day of the war. Years later, a young boy named Vanya (Pavel Boriskin) becomes a surrogate son to Sokolov, giving both men hope for a new happy life together.