The book is devoted to an analysis of the work of film playwright and director Alexander Mindadze, who sensitively foresaw and described global historical processes in their human dimension. Based on modern research on the late USSR, the critic reconsiders the entire corpus of joint works by Mindadze and director Vadim Abdrashitov, which are included in the golden fund of Russian cinema. This is the first time such a deep analysis of the work of Alexander Mindadze has been carried out. The last part of the book is devoted to a new stage in his biography - an impressive transition from the work of a film playwright to the work of a director.