The gritty gangster songs, called Blatnjak, have been part of the Russian underground culture for over a hundred years. This music documentary by Peter Rippl tells the story of the myth Blatnjak, its beginnings in labor and prison camps, of the men behind the music and of the philosophy of a unique musical genre. Rippls film not only deals with the musical history: It is also the history of Russia, which is closely associated with the Blatnjak, a story that is marked by opression and tyranny. “Nobody is protected from the gutter or from the jail“, goes a well-known Russian proverb. All parties involved in the film are Frankfurt natives.