Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s controversial farce and statement on the cultural scene tells the story of the writer Walter Kranz, formerly celebrated as the "poet of the revolution". But for two years running, Kranz is suffering from a deep crisis in work and life. Only after his lover is murdered, he is able to overcome this creative deadlock. But as soon as his latest successful poem is discovered to be nothing more than a copy of a Stefan George poem, Kranz starts to labour under the delusion that he himself is George. In a circle of paid followers the poet acts increasingly megalomaniac and develops bizarre and fascistic ideas…