The Property of Republic

Spring, 1918. Tarakanov, who manages the estate of Prince Tikhvinsky, is stealing the collection of paintings and sculptures from the house after its owners have abandoned it. Two others are with him: Marquess, once a fencing teacher at court, and a street boy named Keshka. They mean to get the collection out of the country. To do it they attach themselves to a travelling circus and take to the road. Behind them comes a tireless investigator, Makar Ovchinnikov. The film carries the chase along with adventure and humour. Underneath the story sits the question of who owns what in the first year of the revolution. Oleg Tabakov, Andrey Mironov and Spartak Mishulin appear in Vladimir Bychkov’s hundred and thirty one minute Soviet film, completed in 1972.