故事发生在车水马龙灯红酒绿的大都市巴黎,来自乡村的少年来此投奔哥哥乔治(蒂埃里·钮维 Thierry Neuvic 饰),却因为不知道哥哥公寓的密码而被关在了门外,就在这时,哥哥的女友安(朱丽叶·比诺什 Juliette Binoche 饰)出现在了少年的面前,带少年进入了公寓。 少年粗暴的对待乞丐玛利亚(吕明妮塔·杰尔吉乌 Luminita Gheorghiu 饰),遭到了黑人教师阿玛度(Ona Lu Yenke 饰)的严厉批评,之后,警察来了,反而逮捕的玛利亚和阿玛度。玛利亚因此而返回自己位于罗马尼亚的家乡,回到了丈夫道格拉斯(Bob Nicolescu 饰)身边。安的隔壁住了一个被虐待的孩子,向安求救,安不知该如何是好。镜头下的人们,每个人都有着自己的故事。Jean, a farm lad, wants to escape his silent father; he runs to Paris to his older brother, Georges, who's away covering the war in Kosovo. Angry, he throws a bag of half-eaten pastry into a beggar's lap. Amadou, a young Franco-African, berates him. The police arrive, arrest Amadou and deport the beggar. Georges's girlfriend Anne is upset; it colors her relationship with Georges when he returns from the war. Separate lives intersect for the one moment, around the pastry bag, and all are altered. We follow each as repercussions of the incident play out. Deaf children bookend the film pantomiming words, feelings, and situations: what they are expressing?