Hebrew leader Lot (Stewart Granger) leads his people to a fertile valley adjacent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, hotbeds of vice and corruption ruled by the merciless Queen Bera (Anouk Aimée). When Lot orders a dam to be busted in order to prevent destruction of the cities by the attacking Helamites, the queen, in gratitude, allows Lot's people to settle in Sodom. Soon, however, the veneer of civilization begins crumbling as Lot and the Hebrews become corrupted by the Sodomites.
While out on the town in Berlin, Raymond sees and falls for Harlis, a star of a troupe of lesbian cabaret strippers. Attracted to a man for the first time, Harlis leaves her long time girlfriend and dance partner. Overwhelmed by jealousy and anger, his brother (Peter) and his ex-fiancee (Ria) are determined to sabotage this budding romance.
Schroeter's virtuosic staging of the Oscar Wilde tragedy is a complex montage of image and sound, filmed on the grand steps of Baalbeck, the ancient Roman temple in Lebanon, and interweaving Lebanese and German folk songs with the music of Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, Mozart, Bellini, and Donizetti. Elfi Mikesch, the cinematographer of Schroeter’s later films, designed the film’s sumptuous costumes. A contemporary critic for Le Monde wrote admiringly of Schroeter’s depiction of "the deadly struggle between dark Christian morality and luminous paganism.“
Schroeter’s film is a chronicle of Germany from the Nazi era until the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s, centering on three women who search for a career as singers and dancers.
Mockumentary about German schoolgirls openly talking about their scandalous sexual experiences. Some of these are illustrated through inserted vignettes. Also, a street reporter asks actual common folk about their views on sex.
