Based on the novel of the same name by Ingeborg Bachmann.

The central figure of this unusual triangle is a well-known but nameless novelist. In an interview with a journalist, she claims to "write about the nature of fire with my burnt hand". He does not understand her. No-one seems to understand what she means, not even her partner Malina and certainly not her lover Ivan.

Malina and the woman live in the man′s home like a married couple, but their love seems very platonic. When the woman meets the Hungarian Ivan, she falls passionately in love with him. However, Ivan begins to draw back from the unconditionality of her claims. Malina ignores this passion. The woman suffers nightmares; above all, her relationship with her father repeatedly appears in horror visions. She flees briefly, from Vienna to the region around Salzburg, but in vain. Malina tries to remain reasonable and to keep a cool, analytical head.

The woman′s final crisis begins when she discovers that Ivan has a new a new affair. She becomes entangled in visions of death and her world literally goes up in flames. Neither Malina nor Ivan is aware of this fire. The woman simply disappears between the walls of the flat. Malina removes the last traces of her and we hear her voice, off-stage: "That was murder!"

Source: German Films Service & Marketing GmbH