Serious, logical Martha (Barbara Sukowa) and dreamy, superstitious Anna (Stefania Sandrelli) have been best friends. That is, until Martha's lover Victor (Sami Frey) decides he'd rather be Anna's lover. Mortified, Martha flees to Africa, leaving the field clear for her ex-friend. When Anna comes down with cancer, she pleads with Victor to get her to come back and somehow put this rupture in their friendship behind them. Curiously, Martha does come back, and after some understandable tension and a few bitter words, they manage to reestablish their friendship, though it is now on a different basis.