The protagonist, Franz, copies the paintings of old masters. He slowly loses his sense of reality, resulting in angst-ridden fantasies and a desire for self-destruction. Franz has an uphill battle with the loss of values and spread of capitalism around him. He rejects advertising to the point of destroying its manifestations.

Humourous interpretation of the poems and writings of Soviet dadaist Daniil Charms. These are organized into a sequence, suggesting a storyline, about a poor Russian poet who lives in Vienna, falls in love and has several bizarre adventures.