A German architect runs away with the maharajah of Eschnapur's fiancee but is caught and thrown in the dungeon, while his relatives arrive from Europe looking for him and the maharajah's brother is scheming to usurp the throne.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses, starring Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim) and Gérard Philipe (La Ronde), is a provocative adaptation of the classic novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Updated to present-day France by director Roger Vadim (Barbarella), the film follows Valmont (Philipe) and Juliette (Moreau) as they manipulate each other into having extra-marital affairs. Juliette points Valmont towards the 16-year-old Cécile (Jeanne Valérie), since she has eyes on Cécile's prospective fiancé Court (Nicolas Vogel). Sex becomes sport in this deliciously backstabbing drama which notably features a score by jazz legend Thelonious Monk.

Sonya, an art student, loves the med student Dieter. And Siegi, a factory worker, loves the bricklayer Eddie. At a lavish Carnival party at East Berlin's art school an unintentional exchange of partners begins. When everyone takes off their masks, Dieter realizes that he did not spend the evening with Sonya, but with Siegi! Director Slatan Dudow, a collaborator of Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler, was a celebrated DEFA director, yet East German officials had problems with the film. They saw it as undermining their plan to bring together the intelligentsia and workers; they also objected to the film's sensuality, which they perceived as a challenge to socialist morality. Campaigns that were organized against the film, however, could not prevent the light and fanciful romantic comedy from becoming a box office hit. The audience was intrigued by the upbeat musical score, the young, fresh faces on screen and the sensuous story line. Content warning: This film contains racist imagery, in the form of a white protagonist wearing blackface at a Carnival party.

In Eschnapur, a local Maharajah and a German architect fall in-love with the same temple dancer.