Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov must seduce Marietta Omarovna Chudakova. Make her change her point of view and thereby defend his right to speak on behalf of the "creative professions." All in all, it would make quite a decent plot. Like in A Cruel Romance (a well-known Soviet film). Mikhalkov-as-Paratov takes Omarovna for a ride on a steamboat. Tsereteli argues with Vasily Aksyonov over which of them will later take her "to Paris for an exhibition." Nikita Belykh kills her, crying, "If I can't have you, no one will." And the "Perm writers Nina Gorlanova and Vyacheslav Bukur" play the singing gypsies. "United Russia," sending out ominous temniki (political talking-point memos), symbolizes the merciless public.