艾尔伯特•斯毕卡（Michael Gambon 饰）及其爪牙敲诈勒索，无恶不作。到了晚上他便会带着妻子和徒众来到其所拥有的餐厅用餐，在这里艾尔伯特依然处于中心地位，他高谈阔论、粗俗无理，蛮横地统治者身边的一切。妻子乔治娜（Helen Mirren 饰）对这个性无能却凶残暴力的丈夫敢怒不敢言，只得小心应付。
然而几次晚宴过后，乔治娜却被旁边桌上一个举止儒雅的绅士所吸引，凭借厨师的穿针引线，她得以避过丈夫的耳目和情人约会。但私情总有败露的一天……
本片荣获1991年芝加哥电影评论协会最佳外语片奖。

A German novelist and university professor must rationalize his decision to join the Nazi Party and participate in its destructive practices and face the effects these choices have on his friendship with a Jewish physician.

A German novelist and university professor must rationalize his decision to join the Nazi Party and participate in its destructive practices and face the effects these choices have on his friendship with a Jewish physician.

Ralph Fiennes plays the title role in a new adaptation of Sophocles tragedy by Frank McGuinness directed by Jonathan Kent. The people of Thebes look to Oedipus to lift a terrible curse from them and their city. He consults the oracle and learns that he must root out the late king's murderer. But his relentless interrogation of one man after another leads inexorably, and in the space of a single day, to his own savage conclusion. You are who you are seeking to find.

玛吉和男友都是脾气不好的人，以至玛吉终于带着她的四个孩子逃到一个妇女避难所。一天，玛吉外出时避难所发生了一场火灾，她和长子肖恩严重烧伤。通过调查发现：玛吉曾将孩子们反锁在房间里，但没有把钥匙留给避难所其他妇女。所以，玛吉应对此负部分责任。结果，她的孩子们全部被带走，处于社会公益服务部门的照管之下。后来玛吉和霍尔赫开始了新生活，霍尔赫成为一名快餐厨师，玛吉也生下了他们的婴儿，一切都很美满。然而不久医疗保健工作者和社会公益服务人员登门拜访他们。社会公益服务部门的工作人员与玛吉的爱吵架的邻居闲聊，这位邻居胡乱编造了玛吉和霍尔赫关系不好的谎言。警察抱走了他们的婴儿，社会公益服务部门也开始审查这对夫妇的关系。玛吉的邻居出庭作证，诬告霍尔赫打了玛吉。玛吉又怀孕了。在医院里，她的婴儿刚刚生下来就从她身边被人抱走了。玛吉知道后十分气愤。尽管两夫妇关系十分紧张，但他们还是一起生活下去了。最后玛吉和霍尔赫获得批准，如果他们将来再生产，可以保留三个孩子。但是他们不能要回头两个孩子，更谈不上玛吉以前生下的四个孩子了。