The film portrays the life of the legendary Azerbaijani guerrilla of the Second World War Mehdi Huseynzadeh, who fought the Nazi forces in the present-day Italy and Slovenia, hence the film's name On distant shores referring to the Adriatic Sea.
Murad, a young man, lives by the old ethical norms that are still valid in the suburbs of his city. He had promised Tofig, his childhood friend, to give him his sister as a wife, but Tofig is in love with another girl. He forgets the promise and takes the girl home. Murad is offended. According to the code of honor, he must take revenge. One of the first films ever produced in the Soviet Union to challenge the sociopolitical establishment.
Made in the tragic comedy genre, this film is about the dysfunctional Soviet management system in Azerbaijan SSR at the end of 1980s and about the decadence and corruption of the Soviet bureaucracy.
