The film focuses on the relationship between Casimir and the monk Justin. If the former is looking for answers to the questions of existence, the latter is sure that he has already comprehended all the mysteries. Ambitious and domineering, Justin believes that people should be kept in constant fear. Kazimir, on the other hand, strives for freedom of the spirit and comes to the conclusion that people pray to the wrong God and are therefore unhappy. These antipodes value each other in their own way. Justin, sending Casimir to the stake, loses the only person close to him. In his last moments, Kazimir does not hate Justin.
The film illustrates individual episodes showing the life of Alexander Pushkin. The script is based on the testimonies of contemporaries, as well as on poems, drawings, and letters of the poet.
