克洛德在生活中一帆风顺：婚姻幸福、事业成功。他是小镇市长，并有望成为参议员。然而，他心爱的孙子卢卡却过得不如意：父母离异，内心痛苦。有一天，他声称自己被祖父强奸。两人的生活从此彻底改变，双方各执一词对簿公堂，直到15年后真相大白。而对于某些人来说，事实并不是他们一直以为的那样......

　　The action of the film takes place in 1943. The title character is a cosmopolitan and incapable of deeper feelings seducer. In Poland, he lost his entire family. Alone - being in the heart of Nazi Germany - he hides his Jewish origins and often eludes death. He works as a waiter in the restaurant of an exclusive hotel and carelessly enjoys all the charms of life surrounded by luxury, beautiful women and friends from all over Europe. However, when the war begins to take a bloody toll on those closest to him, the intricately built world that surrounds him crumbles like a house of cards.

影片的故事发生在 1943 年。主角是一位四海为家、无法深入感情的诱惑者。在波兰，他失去了整个家庭。他独自生活在纳粹德国的中心地带，隐藏自己的犹太血统，常常逃脱死亡的命运。他在一家高级酒店的餐厅里当服务员，在奢华、美丽的女人和来自欧洲各地的朋友的包围下，漫不经心地享受着生活的一切魅力。然而，当战争开始对他最亲近的人造成血腥伤害时，他周围错综复杂的世界就像纸牌屋一样崩溃了。