A man attempting to escape occupied France falls in love with the wife of a dead author whose identity he has assumed.

German troops are fast approaching Paris. Georg, a German refugee, escapes to Marseille in the nick of time. In his luggage, he carries the documents of an author, Weidel, who has taken his own life in fear of his persecutors. Those documents include a manuscript, letters and visa assurance from the Mexican embassy. Everything changes when Georg falls in love with the mysterious Marie. Is it devotion or calculation that has led her to share her life with a doctor, Richard, before journeying on in search of her husband? He's said to have surfaced in Marseille in possession of a Mexican visa for him and his wife.—AnonymusB

As an illegal immigrant in Paris, Georg Seidler is constantly on the run from the police. By chance, he obtains the papers and a manuscript of the writer Weidel, who had previously committed suicide in his hotel room. Georg seizes the opportunity and smuggles himself onto a goods train to Marseille, together with his injured friend Heinz, who does not survive the journey. After arriving in the French harbor city, Georg delivers the sad news to Heinz's deaf wife, Melissa, and their son Driss, with whom he develops a close relationship. At the Mexican consulate, he hopes for a finder's fee for Weidel's documents, but is mistaken for the writer himself and thus obtains transit visas to Mexico for Weidel and his wife Marie. Georg meets the distraught wife several times, who knows nothing of her husband's suicide and continues to hope for his imminent arrival in Marseille. Unaware of Marie's identity, Georg falls in love with her and offers her one of the visas to Mexico. When Heinz's son Driss falls ill, Georg asks the German doctor Richard, who is having an affair with Marie, for help. Georg finds himself in a state of emotional chaos when he identifies Marie as Weidel's wife, who has not given up hope of seeing her husband again and does not want to leave Europe without him. Can Georg tell her the truth? How would she react, and would she even want to board the ship with him?—Arte

Free adaptation of Anna Seghers' novel of the same name (1944) about the fate of refugees from the Nazi regime who hope for passage overseas by ship in Marseille before the Germans invade the city. Director Christian Petzold plays with the time periods in a subtle way by setting the adaptation in the 1940s in terms of dialogue and plot, but using contemporary costumes and locations. The story about a young German who assumes the identity of a dead writer in order to be able to use his transit visa and falls in love with his wife while waiting in Marseille thus develops a variety of references: To Seghers' text, to the work of Christian Petzold, whose motifs are reflected in the material, and to the current situation in Europe in times of the refugee crisis.

In the occupied Paris, the refugee Paul offers a ride to Marseille to his friend Georg if he delivers some correspondence to the famous writer Franz Weidel at his hotel room. However, Geord finds that Weidel committed suicide in his bathroom and the hotel owner has discarded his body. Georg takes Weidel's documents and last manuscript with him to deliver to Paul at the bar, but the Germans have raided the place and arrested Paul. Georg flees to Marseille with his wounded friend, Heinz, hidden in a train wagon, but Heins dies during the journey. George befriends Heinz's son, the boy Driss, and gives the bad news to the widow, Melissa, who is deaf and dumb and is also illegal. Georg goes to the Mexican Consulate to deliver Weidel's documents and is mistakenly taken by Weidel. He resolves to pose as the writer and receives visas and money for him and his wife Marie to leave France. He goes to the American Consulate to get a transit visa and in both opportunities, he sees a beautiful woman looking at him. When the asthmatic Driss has a crisis, Georg searches a doctor and finds Dr. Richard, who is the lover of Marie, the mysterious woman that Georg has seen at the consulates. Soon he learns that she is Weidel's wife and is waiting for him to reunite in their trip to Mexico. But both Georg and Richard have fallen in love with her.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil