On one of the last days of an exceptionally hot summer in 1956, Bertolt Brecht prepares to leave his tranquil lakeside house in Brandenburg for Berlin and the upcoming theatre season. Most of the many women in his life are there: his wife, daughter, old lovers and latest flames, including a beautiful young actress and a women whose affections and body he shares with her political activist husband. The serenity of the countryside stands a stark contrast to the deep, volatile emotions of the characters: love and hatred, jealousy and egomania, betrayal and dashed hopes.

In Jan Schutte's fascinating and absorbing film, Brecht, superbly played by Josef Bierbichler, stuggles to make plans for a future that fate is about to cut short.