In 1944, in a concentration camp on the fringes of Central Europe, camp commandant August Dailermann (Tomas Arana) and his blonde wife, Franziska (Chiara Conti), chafe under the dullness of provincial life in the officer's drab quarters.  Dailermann soothes his nerves with loud doses of Puccini, while his petulant wife objects to his taste in music.  The need for a new servant prompts the entrance of Miklos (Andrea Rienzi), a Hungarian Jewish prisoner with an ear for languages and an eye for modern art.