A Dusan Makavejev adaptation of “Night Of Love” by Emile Zola.

Avanti (Alfred Molina) arrives in a small European town to ensure that the King’s latest hunting trip is a success. Svetlana is also staying in the town due to the King’s hunting trip, but only for the opportunity it presents to assassinate the monarch. Not everything goes as planned, and both Avanti and Svetlana get distracted…

Avanti is charmed by an nymphet ice-cream seller, but gets caught by authorities as he tries to seduce her. Svetlana decides to re-ignite her relationship with a manservant whom she had relations with in her younger years. Both of these doomed romances fall spectacularly apart, and both Avanti and Svetlana take the next train out of town. They meet, fall in love, and forget all about the king’s hunting trip.