Isabelle Linnartz

A young Parisian in quarrel with his father goes to join his uncle who runs a sawmill in the provinces.

Joa (Bulle Ogier), an archaeologist from Mexico, comes to Paris in search of her sister Anna (Mireille Perrier), of whom she is suddenly without news. Anna, a theater actress, was in the title role in Sade's "Justine" when she disappeared. The investigation leading Joa to the people who have known her sister, turns into an initiatory quest. Her journey, her stroll through a subterranean marginal Paris, leads also to the emergence of a new woman.

A fashionable playwright-director offers roles to two young actresses. Shortly after accepting, the actresses notice strange clauses in their contract – namely they must live at the director’s large appartment during rehearsals. Soon thereafter, the mysteries, hallucinations and rivalries begin.

The marquess of Grillo is a good-natured, clever and women-loving man who is always inventing stories and cracking all types of jokes. The film tells the story of his life.