A painter making his way step by step along the muddy roads of the fifteenth century, in the shadow of famine and slaughter. Andrei Tarkovsky paints a portrait of a monk trapped between faith, art, and the fragility of the human spirit in this gloomy medieval Russian atmosphere. Amid the Mongol invasions and the ruthless world beyond the monastery walls, an artist who creates icons seeks tranquility. The black-and-white frames, bearing the weight of time, allow the viewer to directly feel the cost of creation and the depth of silence.