斯蒂芬尼（盖尔•加西亚•贝纳尔 Gael García Bernal 饰）是一个充满奇思妙想和新鲜念头的小伙子，他从墨西哥来到法国，并在亲戚的帮助下找到了这份机械枯燥的办公室工作。斯蒂芬尼喜欢做梦，梦里有着各种奇妙的事情；因为害羞他在女孩面前十分拘谨。这天，斯蒂芬尼搬来了一个新邻居——那个笑容温暖的邻居女孩有着和他一样得名字：斯蒂芬尼(夏洛特•甘斯布 Charlotte Gainsbourg 饰)。斯蒂芬发现她的想象力天赋和自己竟然十分相似。他们用只属于彼此的方式交往着，命运的连结也由此开始。
The action of the film takes place in 1943. The title character is a cosmopolitan and incapable of deeper feelings seducer. In Poland, he lost his entire family. Alone - being in the heart of Nazi Germany - he hides his Jewish origins and often eludes death. He works as a waiter in the restaurant of an exclusive hotel and carelessly enjoys all the charms of life surrounded by luxury, beautiful women and friends from all over Europe. However, when the war begins to take a bloody toll on those closest to him, the intricately built world that surrounds him crumbles like a house of cards.
