Time Sequence

Post-war. The film opens with Ignat turning on the television set. The program shown is that of a therapist treating an adolescent afflicted with stuttering. The credits follow. The Music: J. S. Bach, Das Orgelbüchlein No. 16, "Das alte Jahr vergangen ist".
Pre-war. Edge of a field, Maria and a doctor who is passing by meet and converse. Voice-over of the narrator, who is obviously the protagonist Aleksei. Arseni Tarkovsky's poem, read by the poet. Maria with the children, Alyosha and Marina, inside the dacha. Maria and children go outside to see the barn on fire.
Pre-war. Interior night shots. Maria is washing her hair with her husband's help. Maria young/Maria old looking in the mirror.
Post-war. Phone conversation between Aleksei and his mother, Maria.
Pre-war. The printing shop incident. Lisa, Maria's friend, tells her she reminds her of Maria Timofeyevna, which leads to recriminations on Lisa's part.
War-time. Natalya and husband quarrel. Ignat watches the Spanish tenants. Archive footage of the Spanish Civil War. Children being evacuated. A stratospheric balloon journey undertaken by a Kurdish aviator in 1937. Music: Pergolesi, Stabat Mater, No 12: "Quando corpus morietur fac ut animae donetur paradisi glori." Ticker tape parade.
Post-war. Ignat leafs through Leonardo da Vinci book. Natalya drops her purse. Ignat reads Pushkin's letter to Chaadayev to two unknown women, one of whom appears to be modeled after the poet Anna Akhmatova (1898-1966). Ignat answers the door. Ignat and his father talk on the phone.