 The film was released in the West as "The Age of Mercy", after the title of the novel by the Vayner Brothers (Arkady and Georgy Vayner), on which the film is based.The film is set in post-World War II Moscow.Lieutenant Vladimir Sharapov (Vladimir Konkin) is a young reconnaissance officer and a decorated war veteran who has just returned from the war and is assigned to peacetime service with the famous MUR (Moscow Department of Criminal Investigations).