This emotional Russian drama is set in Moscow, 1963 and centers on Elena who works as a hostess at an upscale nightspot. She lives in a single-room flat with her 22-year-old son Yuri. Elena dreams of going with her son, a budding concert pianist, to an important Paris competition, but before they can go, there is much work to be done and she must keep him focused on his music. Unfortunately, Yuri and his fiancee Katya have a tremendous fight after she tells him that she is Jewish (the anti-Semitic Elena fears that the Katya could ruin Yuri's chances of winning the competition). They break up and Yuri turns to a seductive translator for consolation. Meanwhile, Elena is busily hobnobbing, manipulating and doing anything she can to insure her son a place in the competition.