Tragic farce, based on the novel by Vsevolod Benigsen "GenAcId" ["General national idea"]. Actors, showmen, and simple villagers starred in this film, whose title was changed by the authors (from the abbreviation of the novel) in a logic that follows the thread of Benigsen's work: a piece of land is detached from Russia and the village of Arkhipovka, where the action of the film takes place, changes its name to Archipelago.
On the orders of the authorities, Arkhipovka is the subject of an experiment with the aim of implanting a national idea of rallying the people around the love of Russian literature. Each "experiment subject" must learn an excerpt from a literary work, from Pushkin to Brodsky. The inhabitants reluctantly embark on the experiment, then, against all expectations, acquire a taste for it. However, a tragic incident causes everything to end in an "absurd and merciless" revolt, in Pushkin's own words.…
