Sergei and Andrei are walking through a city park and see that a film shoot set just post World War II is taking place . They climb over the park fence to get a better view but hit some cable lying on the ground and find themselves in the past - on May 8, 1949, a day which they seem doomed to relive over and over again.
The Master is a talented writer in Moscow working on a manuscript about Jesus and Pontius Pilate. The Moscow authorities are harassing Master by surveillance and intimidation. His assistant and muse, Margarita, tries to help the Master through the supernatural powers she got from the devil, Woland, who is visiting Moscow.
"Makarov" both a popular Russian name, and also slang for the word "gun," serves as a metaphor for the brutal reality of life in a post-totalitarian society. The story's protagonist, Makarov, embodies this struggle as he becomes more mechanical and less spiritual upon acquiring a gun.
