With the defeat of the Nazis looming large, "Maria" (Hanna Schygulla) marries her sweet-heart "Hermann" (Klaus Löwitch) before he is promptly sent off to the front and she loses all trace of him. With her nation now in ruins, she has no way of surviving and so has to adapt by using her wits, guile and even her body to keep alive. Fortunately, she alights on an American soldier who enables her to keep her head above water but she spurns anything more permanent as, even when told of his death, she refuses to abandon hope that "Hermann" will return. The thrust of this story continues for many a y...