In the vision of Philippe Grandrieux, the director of Tristan und Isolde, the latter is the driving force behind the passionate drama of Tristan and herself. She is an erotomaniac who wants to possess and swallow him whole. Philippe Grandrieux's direction focuses on Isolde's desire and not the desire of both of them (as classical literature usually reads Wagner's opera).

The somewhat indolent father Traugott Wurster looks after his six sons while his wife works in a butcher's shop. One day, when Traugott falls into a mysterious prolonged sleep, mother Wurster is forced to give the children to relatives. Markus is sent to the stuffy Uncle Theodor, who turns into a childhood friend under his influence. Mother Wurster also "rents" the sleeping Traugott to a furniture store, which uses him to advertise mattresses in the shop window.