A young woman confronts the personification of Death, in an effort to save the life of her fiance. Death weaves three romantic tragedies and offers to unite the girl with her lover, if she can prevent the death of the lovers in at least one of the episodes. Thus begin three exotic scenarios of ill-fated love, in which the woman must somehow reverse the course of destiny: Persia, Quattrocento Venice, and a fancifully rendered ancient China.

As a young couple stops and rests in a small village inn, the man is abducted by Death and is sequestered behind a huge doorless, windowless wall. The woman finds a mystic entrance and is met by Death, who tells her three separate stories set in exotic locales, all involving circumstances similar to hers. In each story, a woman, trying to save her lover from his ultimate tragic fate, fails. The young lady realizes the meaning of the tales and takes...

The film describes the inner world of the popular 19th-century German author "at the beginning of the end of the fairy tale" in a kind of monologue in a monstrous intimate play.

A young woman confronts the personification of Death, in an effort to restore life to her dead fiance.