影片讲述了一个传奇男子的传奇故事。他，Kosmos（宇宙），在一个风雪交加的日子，为了逃命翻过一座雪山，来到一个陌生的小村庄。他救活了一个溺水的孩子，得到孩子父亲的照顾，并和孩子的姐姐Neptune（海王星）互生爱慕之情。他是个看上去疯疯癫癫，内心有无限智慧的人。他衣冠不整，居无定所，我行我素，在这样一个封闭的村子里，引来了村民好奇而戒备的目光。他治好了村里一名老裁缝多年的哮喘，可以和动物交流，可以轻松地爬上村里最高的树；他怀着一颗赤子之心，高兴地时候上蹿下跳，悲伤的时候躲在角落里大声哭泣；他毫无芥蒂地帮助他人，也在这个传统封闭的村庄当众宣布自己渴望爱情。有意思的事，同样这一个人，会去偷商店的钱，然后遇到需要钱财的村民，又把自己的钱都拿出来给别人，即使面对一个杀人犯，也会给钱帮助他逃跑。Kosmos眼里没有常人的是非观，他在做着一切自己想做的事情。仅此而已。Kosmos与Neptune对爱情的表达方式十分特别。整个故事中，两人只有一次简短的对白：他们第一次见面时，Neptune目睹Kosmos救了自己的弟弟。后来再次相见，Kosmos欣喜若狂，问女孩说,你叫什么名字。她回答，我叫 Neptune (海王星）。Kosmos说，如果你叫Neptune(海王星)，我就叫Kosmos（宇宙）。后来，他们都分别在模仿鸟叫来表达自己的感情，两个人一唱一和，无需语言，是真正的心灵伴侣。

故事发生在1835年的东欧，宪兵康斯坦丁（特奥多·科尔班 Teodor Corban 饰）带着他的儿子伊沃尼塔（米海·科玛罗尤 Mihai Comanoiu 饰）正在茫茫的沙漠里追捕奴隶卡费（
托玛·库兹因 Toma Cuzin 饰），因为这名奴隶和雇主的妻子有着不纯洁的关系。虽然身为父子，但康斯坦丁和伊沃尼塔的个性截然不同，前者热情又乐观，总是充满了干劲，而后者沉默又内向，脑海里无时不刻都在思考着人生。
一路上，父子两人遇见了各种各样的人，他们有着不同的肤色，不同的信仰，虽然同为人类，但彼此之间有着非常激烈的思想碰撞，这些人给伊沃尼塔的世界观带来了极大的震撼，也让他一路成长。

保加利亚影史十佳之首。
卡罗维发利国际电影节评委会特别奖。
The film sends us to the 18th century when Bulgaria was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Four hoodlums break into the house of the shepherd Karaivan, raping and killing his wife in full view of their little girl, Maria. Karaivan decides to take the law into his own hands and becomes enslaved by his violent wish for revenge. He burns their house with his wife's body inside and abandons the gentle life they had shared, choosing instead to take his daughter to live in a rough hut high in the hills. He raises Maria as a boy, training her to fight so that she can kill in cold blood and help her father avenge her mother's murder. Nine years pass before the two locate and kill three of the four perpetrators. At each body they leave a goat horn as the symbol of their revenge. While on a mission to kill the last one at his rich oriental house, Maria becomes the unwitting witness of a love scene and change comes over her. Now, from time to time she secretly dons a beautiful women dress and exults in her newly found femininity. She falls in love with young shepherd and the hate begins to melt from her heart. When Karaivan discovers the change that is taking place in her it is already late. He tries to bring Maria back to him and their life of revenge, with disastrous results.