Charming rogue Fanfan flits from one adventure to the other after evading marriage by joining the army in the midst of the Seven Years' War. He's motivated less by patriotism than by a consultation with Adeline, a voluptuous phony fortuneteller who promises that he will find glory in the army, even win the hand of King Louis XV's daughter. Herself the daughter of a recruiting sergeant, Adeline is a charlatan, but the irrepressible Fanfan sets about...

Set in the 15th century, two strangers dressed as minstrels arrive at a castle in advance of court festivities, and it is revealed that they are actually emissaries of the devil himself, dispatched to spread heartbreak and suffering. Their plans, however, are thwarted by an unexpected intrusion: human love. Often interpreted as an allegory for the Nazi occupation of France, during which it was made.