Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.

For twenty years, Canh has lived in North Vietnam, unable to return to his home in the south where his wife is waiting for him. She is happy to reunite with her husband until she learns that he has married a young woman in the north and has a child by her. The love triangle becomes more complicated.

In an attempt to break into the Saigon fashion scene, an emerging model becomes the mistress of a famous photographer.