The action begins in 1912. The heroes of the painting - neighbors, villagers, Cossacks from the Tatarsky farm of the village of Vyoshenskaya - have lived on this land for centuries, they are connected by kinship, friendship, love, common labor and military service. But this durable and self-sufficient world with its unique way of life, habits and a special system of views and values is collapsing under the onslaught of bloody turmoil and revolution. Don is divided by hatred. The seemingly immutable age-old foundations of Don life - land, farm, family, military duty - are dissolving in the crucible of fratricidal war. The Melekhov, Korshunov, and Astakhov families are involved in the cycle of military and political events.

Evgeniy Tkachukas Григорий Мелехов
Polina Chernyshovaas Аксинья Астахова
Sergey Makovetskiyas Пантелей Прокофьевич Мелехов
Anastasiya Vedenskayaas Дарья Мелехова
Nikita Efremovas Митька Коршунов
Darya Ursulyakas Наталья Коршунова
Lyudmila Zaytsevaas Василиса Ильинична
Valentina Ananinaas тётка Аксиньи
Aleksandr Yatsenkoas Mikhail Koshevoy
Aleksandr Kazakovas Avdeich
Yuri Krasavin