Based on the novel by Mikhail Sholokhov, this sprawling epic chronicles the life of Grigori (Elina Bystritskaya), a Cossack who lives in the Don River valley during the early 20th century. When Grigori begins an affair with the married Aksiniya (Pyotr Glebov), a feud between two families begins, and it plays out during a particularly unstable time in Russian politics. As their romance blossoms, it is threatened by the outbreak of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution.