Once upon a time a carnivorous advertising methodist (Richard Bohringer) finds himself stuck between floors in an old elevator. The owner of the deserted building (Ute Lemper) does not help, but plays with him like a prey trapped. To get out, he threatens, attempts to seduce, to deceive, to be honest. After this confrontation for several days...
Landry and Sylvinet are identical twins who are distraught when they are separated at the age of fourteen. Sent to work on the neighboring farm because phylloxera has ruined his father's vines, Sylvain, the stronger of the two brothers, recovers from the shock but not Sylvinet, who keeps moaning and sulking. Caillaud, the rich farmer who employs Landry is pleased with the way Landry works and lets him woo his daughter Madelon. Some day, due to a misunderstanding between the twins, Sylvinet runs away from home and disappears in the forest. And while Landry tries to find him in the woods he is helped by a little savage, Fadette, who lives there with her spiteful grandmother and her brother. Against all odds, Landry will gradually for this dirty little wild child.
Marie Madeleine Dreux, Marquise of Brinvilliers, was executed in 1676 for poisoning. Manipulated by her lover and having kept the aftereffects of her childhood, she does not hesitate to poison her father and two brothers to recover their inheritance.