 In the middle of the night, someone brings Ivan s body home to his wife and his sad-faced, jug-eared son. Through flashbacks, the film discloses the relationships among Ivan and his brother Alex, a cop with a cleanliness fetish; siblings Juliette and Jimmy, Ivan s partners in a seedy nightclub; the love triangle of Alex, Juliette, and Marie, a professor of philosophy; and of Alex and his nephew, Ivan s dour, stoic son. Ivan s death changes every relationship. Images of hang gliders, sun bathers, and opera suggest an expansive, colorful world outside the constricted lives of these characters.