A young sailor learns that his friend has died of a heroin overdose. He watches the 8mm films he has made of his friend and discovers that he keeps the world at a distance from behind his camera.

Under pressure from his publisher, Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky gets work on his latest piece, 'Rouletenberg'. In the 27 days it takes for him to complete the novel reality and fiction become blurred; in this feverish atmosphere of excess Dostoyevsky's characters come to life as he struggles to complete his work.