In 19th-century Paris, Charles Swann (Jeremy Irons) risks his social standing in his obsessive pursuit of prostitute Odette (Ornella Muti). His overwhelming desire for her comes, in part, from Odette's complete disinterest in him. When he finally weds her, utterly compromising himself in high society, he finds to his horror that his love for her was a complete illusion. At the same time, the Baron de Charlus (Alain Delon) pursues his own ill-advised romance.