The allegorical Flight of the Sparrows begins aboard a crowded third-class passenger train traveling through Soviet Georgia at night. An eccentric cast of characters passes the time chatting and occasionally arguing. Tensions erupt when a burly man wearing a leather jacket, who, against type, has a pet sparrow tucked inside the pocket closest to his chest, and another man, who is well-dressed, well-educated, and claims to have traveled the world, engage in a fistfight. The expert cinematography accentuates the close quarters of the train cabin, and then the action shifts to a totally different setting.