A pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiralling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.

Befriended by aristocrat Sebastian Flyte, Oxford student Charles Ryder finds that the power and privilege experienced by the family is seductive. On a visit to the ancestral home, Brideshead, he falls in love with his friend's sister, Julia. However, as his ties to the Flytes deepen, Ryder finds himself at odds with their strong Roman Catholicism.

It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances Sy Ableman.

A couple goes to dangerous lengths to find a lung donor for their daughter.

Waitress Doris meets a stranger on a train to Leipzig. This well-dressed thirty-something man decides to follow her, as they are drawn to each other, but neither seem prepared to admit to their loneliness.

Confined to a cold cell for 41 nights, a doctor's dreams of failures collide with his memories of success.

A woman's inability to make a lasting commitment results in her having a string of affairs with married men.

A nuclear war specialist returns from a mission gathering data on Soviet communications and electronic warfare techniques in the Arctic Ocean to find that his flat has been broken into and mysteriously re-decorated.

David, a recently fired scrapyard worker and Marie, a prostitute, both about 20 years old, meet on New Year's Eve in Berlin and decide to run away together. As David's arm is plastered from an accident Marie continues to prostitute herself to finance their restless journey through the Ruhr area. Their love and their will to survive guide them though all problems.

A young man living in a cold southern village in South America, decides to start a trip looking for his father. By doing this he discovers unexpected facts about his Latin American essence.

Although based on a novel by Georges Simenon, director (and songwriter) Serge Gainsbourg has superimposed several dark emotions and a subtle brutality over the weak plot about a man's trip to Africa and his unfortunate passion for a murderess whose amorality sends the disillusioned fellow back to Europe. Sometimes described as frustrating and self-centered, reactions to this film swing across a broad spectrum of complaints -- not the least might be whether or not Gainsbourg is using a clichéd and stereotypical view of "dark Africa" to convey what he sees in his characters.

Sayaka, a high school student, kills herself but the reason behind her suicide is unknown. She appeared to have led a normal life with her family. Her mother Rumiko seemed to have raised Sayaka with love and care. In reality, that does not seem to be the case. When the mother and daughter recall the same incidents that took place in the past, they tell very different stories.