The marriage of Robert and Elizabeth is collapsing, both concentrating on their jobs (journalist, mother) rather than each other. The film looks at a week in their lives. Robert sleeps with their babysitter, Marianne, while Elizabeth talks with their friends, Juliet and Alex.

An eccentric elderly man tries to enjoy the three things in life that he considers real beauty: collecting art, collecting flowers, and watching pretty women undress.

Claustrophobic drama sent in the summer of 1973 against the backdrop of day-to-day social and political turmoil including the sacking of the Whitlam government. Two people meet: the gap between their intellectual and emotional response widens as their relationship develops.