The hero has nowhere to live and nothing to live on — he rents out his own “living space” in the old centre of Odessa to a woman who stubbornly refuses to pay anything. In addition to the housing issue, he is also annoyed by the need to record a video message to a once close friend who has immigrated to America. The very idea of a common language between former friends on opposite sides of the ocean seems absurd. It is 1999.