Plot

A guard on the Soviet-Chinese border who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he's capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.

USSR-China border, 1973. Private Rafael is on guard duty when the border falls under attack from Chinese kung fu warriors. Rafael is the only one to miraculously survive; images of hippie looking fighters running along the branches, Black Sabbath playing on the team's portable radio, forever embedded in his memory. Later, when seeing similar-looking monks in a monastery yard, he has an epiphany and decides to become a monk himself. The road to achieving the almighty power of humility is long and winding, providing both comic and enlightening turns. The proud Rafael seems to have been given the gift of powerful prayer. Yet he has to prove to Father Melhisedek, the elder monk Nafanail, flirtatious Rita and his rival and adversary Irinei, that he is indeed capable of becoming the enlightened man who can unite power and tenderness.—Estonia Film Institute