Every day Axenty Ivanovich Poprishchin, a low-ranking civil servant, longs to escape his dreary routine. He’s unhappy in his work and is hopelessly in love with his boss’ daughter. Increasingly Poprishchin withdraws from his depressing reality, fleeing into his own fantasy world.

In 'Diary of a Madman' Nikolai Gogol presents us with a man stuck in a dead-end job, with no chance of bettering his standing in society. But Gogol's protagonist refuses to accept his lot.

He attempts to compensate for his inferiority complex with an ever-growing sense of omnipotence, driving him to the brink of megalomania. Samuel Finzi plays the madman who, at 42 years of age, embarks on a new career.