Patagonia, Argentina, 1880s. During the Conquest of the Desert, Marguerite, the French wife of Colonel Garay, in charge of protecting a new railway, discovers that a French woman is being held captive by the local natives.
Dostoevsky-inspired drama set in 1900s Prague about a bored arrogant playboy who spends time seducing other men's wives and dueling. He begins an affair with his friend's wife, but falls in love with her.
Since childhood, Raquel and Maria have been close friends. Now all grown-up, Raquel has fulfilled her dream of becoming an actress, while Maria has married a handyman, given birth to three children and runs the family household. In the wake of the Argentine military coup of 1976, Maria's oldest son Carlos is abducted. Desperate, Maria turns to her prominent friend for help. Yet the more Raquel gets involved in the search for Carlos, the more she becomes herself a target of the junta. Finally, she flees from Argentina to Berlin. Meanwhile Maria joins a group of women who investigate the fate of their disappeared relatives. In 1983, after the fall of the dictatorship, the two friends meet again.
When Rey left Argentina after it fell under a military dictatorship in the late 1970s, he also left behind a very controlling and authoritarian father. Now he has returned to the country from exile for the funeral of his father. Though he left the man behind physically, their relationship still haunts him. Meanwhile, his old college pal Isabel has also returned to Argentina to help her husband and child cope with the effects of her long absence, brought about because she had a politically unsuitable lover. The two returnees are contemplating filming an autobiographical film about their experiences.
