In 1979 Tarkovsky began the production of the film The First Day (Russian: Первый День Pervyj Dyen′), based on a script b y his friend and long-term collaborator Andrei Konchalovsky. The film was set in 18th-century Russia during the reign of Peter the Great and starred Natalya Bondarchuk and Anatoli Papanov. To get the project approved by Goskino, Tarkovsky submitted a script that was different from the original script, omitting several scenes that were critical of the official atheism in the Soviet Union. After shooting roughly half of the film the project was stopped by Goskino after it became apparent that the film differed from the script submitted to the censors. Tarkovsky was reportedly infuriated by this interruption and destroyed most of the film.

Historical drama based on the eponymous novel by Leo Tolstoy.
Junker Olenin, a representative of St.Petersburg's golden youth, is traveling from St.Petersburg to the Caucasus in search of romance. His regiment is stationed in the Cossack village. Here he falls in love with the beautiful Maryana and is ready to marry her, but she loves the Cossack Lukashka and is not going to exchange him for the master...