Forced in bed by a sickness, Alexei pounders about his life, mixing past present, reality and imagination. He thinks back to his father who abandoned his mother and this reminds him of his actual situation. The man is living a similar situation: he divorced from his wife Natalija and has a son, Ignat, who refuses to see him. The same actress plays the role of his mother and his wife and the same kid plays the role of the young Alexei and his own son, Ingat. Tarkovskij said: "Repetition is a law, experience does not get transmitted and everyone has to live it".