Hugues cannot get over the untimely death of his wife Blanche, who made him happy for ten years. He lives alone in his house in Bruges, a city he would like to be dead like his wife. The sorrowful widower has transformed the place he lives in into a shrine dedicated to his beloved wife. One day, he meets Jeanne, a ballet dancer, who looks like Blanche.—Guy Bellinger

After ten happy years with his beloved wife, wealthy gentleman widower Hugues Viane remains obsessively devoted to his late Blanche, practically turning his mansion in old Bruges into a shrine for her. When he meets her lookalike, theatrical dancer Jeanne Marchal, he becomes a regular in the lodge box, follows her home, starts dating and wooing her. However he expects her to turn into a copy of Blanche and adopt his grim, formalistic Catholic pietism, but she refuses to abandon her more playful walk of life and stands up to him in escalating conflicts.—KGF Vissers