 Following motifs of the best seller of the same name by Robert Schneider, the film tells the story of musician Elias Alder, who brought his life to an end at the age of 22 having decided not to sleep any more. In a mountain village isolated from the world, the fate is fulfilled of a man mortally afflicted by a musical genius which prevents him from following the beating of his heart and settling for happiness with the woman whom he loves more than his own life. See also the documentary The Dark Forest of the Soul - A Portrait of the Writer Robert Schneider by Walter Baco.