Zinaida Pigulovich

About the uprising of Ukrainian peasants under the leadership of the national hero Karmelyuk against landowners and Polish gentry. In the 1830s, Young Count Piglovsky returns to his estate from Paris. The carriage in which he is riding is surrounded by rebellious peasants. Their attempt to hang the master is canceled almost at the last moment, because it is not the count in the carriage, but his lackey - Ustym Karmelyuk. Ustym really serves as a lackey in the count's house and at the same time leads a peasant uprising. The government sends the army. In a fierce fight, Karmelyuk is almost captured, but he is saved by one of the serfs.

The film is based on I. Nechui-Levystkyi’s work The Bargewoman. From dawn till dusk from early childhood, Vasylyna has been working on Pan Jastrzebski’s fields. The young nobleman likes the beautiful girl, and she starts working in his home as a maid. Vasylyna’s happiness does not last long: the man marries a girl of his social class. Vasylyna’s fiancé Vasyl, who feels insulted because of her unfaithfulness, instigates guys to cut off the braid of the landlord’s mistress. Vasylyna runs away from the village and hides from people. Soon, she gives birth to a child who dies shortly. Female workers from a factory find barely alive Vasylyna and help her become a weaver. Vasylyna starts a new life.