The Barber of Siberia

In 1905, Jane Callaghan, a once beautiful American writes to her son, a cadet at the famous West Point military academy. Her memories take us back 20 years to when she arrived in Russia to assist Douglas McCracken, an obsessive engineer who needs the Grand Duke's patronage to sponsor his invention — a massive machine to harvest the forests of Siberia.

On her travels, she meets two men who will change her life forever. A handsome young cadet, Andrey Tolstoy, with whom she shares a fondness of opera, and the powerful General Radlov who is spellbound by her beauty. The General wants her hand in marriage, and she knows she can use him to gain access to the Grand Duke.

Tolstoy and Radlov vie for the the love of the woman with whom they are obsessed. She confides a deep secret to Tolstoy, promises to marry him, and together they spend a passionate night of love. But later he overhears Jane denying her interest in him to the General. Distraught, Tolstoy attacks the General who arrests his young rival on false charges and banishes him to Siberia.