A reckless spirit pervades this surreal, enigmatic comedy, winner of France's prestigious Louis Delluc Prize. Set in and around an idealized contemporary Paris, the film links several different stories through breathtakingly beautiful tracking shots. In a suburban chateau, a lovable alcoholic (director Iosseliani himself) fools around with his electric train set, while his wife, a high-powered businesswoman, entertains her society friends with a gigantic stork perched on her shoulder. Meanwhile the couple's teenage son sneaks away from home, joins a gang of petty thieves, and befriends a street person with a taste for grand cru wines. Reality is slowly left behind, yet Iosseliani retains a sharp sense of class division which reasserts itself in a melancholic coda.