Plot: Nikolai "Kolya" Rodchenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov) is a Russian ballet dancer who defected to the West. He is in a plane flying over Russia when all of a sudden, a malfunction forces the plane to land there. The K.G.B. tells everyone that his injuries are so severe that he has to remain confined for awhile. But in reality, they want him to return to them, so they bring him to his old apartment and an American, Raymond Greenwood, who defected to Russia several years ago, is placed there to keep an eye on him. However, Rodchenko is not about to give in and is determined to escape. So with help from his former lover, he gets word to the Americans. And even Raymond is starting to be disillusioned with Russia, and he has to decide if he is going to do what he was sent to do, or help Rodchenko.
Alternative Plot: When his plane makes an emergency landing in Siberia, ballet dancer Nikolai Rodchenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov) is recognized as a defector and brought into custody. Returned to Leningrad and reunited with his former love, aging prima ballerina Galina Ivanova (Helen Mirren), Nikolai meets American dancer Raymond Greenwood (Gregory Hines), who defected to the Soviet Union during the Vietnam War but has secretly grown disenchanted. Together, they plot an escape to the American consulate and freedom.
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