 Just as the first five-year plan was coming into operation in 1929, Stalin had the House of Government built. The building, which contains five hundred flats, was fitted out like a luxurious cruise ship. The House on the Riverbank was a cosmos in its own right, with a canteen, cinema, theatre, and a selection of shops. Even the furnishing was taken care of, with each spacious flat having a desk which was a copy of Lenin s own personal work desk. On the instructions of the Party, deserving veterans of the revolution as well as members of the Party and State elite moved into the building. Here they lived directly opposite the Kremlin, separated, but not protected from it, by the river Moscova. The film gives a lively picture of the Soviet Union, including the current symbols of power, seen from the perspective of the inhabitants of this centre of power - and powerlessness. The memories and comments of the widows and descendents of the first generation of this fortress s inhabitants give a very personal chronicle of the 20th century, based around the history of the building.