Based on Théophile Gautier's novel of the same name, the film tells of the tragic love affair of Ottavio de Saville. He falls madly in love with Madame Prascovie Labinska, a woman very faithful to her husband, the Polish count Olaf Labinski. Alarmed by the growing physical and mental weariness of the desperate young man, his relatives and friends decide to turn to Doctor Balthazar, who has just returned from a trip to the Indies where he was initiated into the secrets of Brahman.