The destructive dynamics of a relationship based upon great inequality. Karol is a Polish hairdresser working in France. He has a beautiful wife, Dominique, whom he loves to obsession, and who is in the process of divorcing him for his inability to "consummate the marriage". Karol loses all of his earthly possessions and is literally driven out of France by his estranged wife. He then fights to resolve his deep passion for Dominique with his own helplessness.