Gerd Meineke is a committed member of the Bundestag and member of the Parliamentary Assembly in the Council of Europe. And he has a problem: Leyla, the daughter of his partner Alina, was taken into custody as an opposition figure in her country of origin, Azerbaijan. The blogger fights there for democracy and against environmental destruction. Gerd travels to Baku as an election observer for the Council of Europe, where he wants to campaign for the release of Leyla and other political prisoners. Only on site does he realize that the government and the lobbyists of influential companies are using politicians like him to gain credibility for the ruthless, environmentally destructive extraction of critical raw materials. Leyla and her friend Valentina open his eyes to the extent of corruption that does not stop at Western European politicians. Will Gerd, together with Leyla and the help of her friend, be able to make the corruption of politics public?
West Germany in the 1970s. Many artists, journalists and intellectuals were branded as sympathizers of Baader-Meinhof's left-wing terrorism. The parents of the director, too: Margarethe von Trotta and his stepfather, Volker Schlöndorff. With extensive archive materials and film clips as well as Margarethe von Trotta's private diaries the film portrays one German family and the society of the time.
The night of August 24, 1944. The fate of Paris is in the hands of General von Choltitz, governor of Grand Paris, who is preparing, on Hitler’s orders, to blow up the French capital. The descendent of a long line of Prussian military men, the general has never had any hesitation when it came to obeying orders. This is what’s on Swedish consul Raoul Nordling’s mind as he takes the secret staircase that leads to General von Choltitz’s suite at the Hôtel Meurice. The bridges on the Seine and the major monuments of Paris (including the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower) are mined with explosives, ready to be detonated. Armed with all the weapons of diplomacy, the consul will try to convince the general not to follow Hitler’s order of destruction.
1931년 일본군의 상하이 점령 당시 자줏빛 나비로 알려진 중국 레지스탕스 조직이 침략군 일본 비밀경찰의 대장인 야마모토의 암살을 계획한다.
폭력이 만연한 이 도시 한가운데에서 불법 조직을 위해 일하며 살아가고 있는 딩후이는 전쟁 전 애인이었던 일본인 이타미가 중국으로 돌아왔고 그가 야마모토의 직속 부하임을 알게 된다.
이타미는 믿을 만한 존재일까 아니면 딩후이의 신분과 임무가 발각되어 그녀 자신과 자유를 위해 싸우는 그녀의 동지들까지 죽음으로 이끌 것인가?
수많은 전설을 담은 채 상하이를 가로질러 흐르는 수쥬 강. 과거의 오토바이 배달부 마다(나이 안)는 부잣집 외동딸 모우단(조우 쉰)을 친척집에 데려다주는 일을 하다 사랑을 나눈다. 그러나 어처구니 없는 사건에 휘말린 이들의 관계는 파국으로 치닫는다. 한편 현재의 '나'는 비디오 촬영기사로 인어 쇼를 찍던 중 무희 메이메이가 모우단을 닮았다는 사실을 발견한다. 추리극 형태를 띤 네 남녀의 사랑이야기가 '나'의 시점으로 전개된다.
