The film is based on the eponymous book, written by two former street gangsters - Grigori Belykh and Leonid Panteleyev. Film is set in the 1920s St. Petersburg, Russia. Streets of the city are full of the homeless boys. They are caught to be raised and educated at the correction school named after Dostoevsky. The boys are street smart and difficult. But the faculty stands up to the challenge. The teaches are being devoted and caring, and gradually win the respect of the most difficult kids. The school director Vicknixor is a refined intellectual, who becomes a role model for the boys.
Sergei Yursky
as Vicknixor
Yuliya Burygina
as Elanlyum
Pavel Luspekayev
as Kostalmed
Aleksandr Melnikov
as Alnikpop
Anatoli Stolbov
as Palvan
Georgy Kolosov
as Meftakhutdyn
Vera Titova
as Marta
Violetta Zhukhimovich
as Tonya Markoni
Lev Vajnshtejn
as Yankel
Viktor Perevalov
as Goga