故事围绕着著名管弦乐队指挥蒂博展开。当他被诊断出患有白血病时，他开始寻找骨髓移植的合适捐赠者。随后他发现自己是被领养的，并且在北方有一个哥哥。哥哥是一名办公室职员，但也在当地一支即将解散的铜管乐队中演奏长号。在该地区唯一一家工厂即将关闭的背景下，他们的相遇标志着一段兄弟情、社会和音乐之旅的开始……

怪才布里叶的成名作，故事讲述两个游手好闲的嬉皮士青年，因为开枪打伤人而被迫开始流亡，途中他们抢劫美容院，与成熟女人做爱，打家劫舍，总之无恶不作。但一直无法得到性欲上的满足，后来他们与结识的妓女一起，展开了三人行，即只谈性爱、不谈将来的逍遥浪荡的天涯之旅。

　　亚博（路易斯·加瑞尔 Louis Garrel 饰）和玛丽安（蕾蒂莎·科斯塔 Laetitia Casta 饰）相识于大学校园之中，情窦初开的两人一见钟情，很快就走到了一起，并且搬到了同一屋檐下，开始了同居生活。一天，玛丽安告诉亚博自己怀孕了，还没等亚博开心完，玛丽安爆出了一个惊人的消息，她腹中的孩子不是亚博的，而是亚博最好的朋友保罗的。
　　愤怒又震惊的亚博选择离开了玛丽安，没过多久，玛丽安就和保罗结婚了。从此，这几个人再也没有联系过，但这段感情带给亚博的伤害却伴随了他一生。一晃眼九年过去，一天，亚博意外的收到了保罗的死讯。

　　故事分成三個章節：主要的章節由高達親自飾演導演，正要趕乘飛機，在24小時內把一部電影的菲林交給監製；同時一隊二人流行電子音樂組合，不斷排練歌曲，最後在路上表演；另一邊廂，愚笨的大肥佬捲入一宗事件，被神秘女人密切監視，最後更被拘捕。三段故事看似毫無關連，實際是高達以電影來討論電影製作和藝術創作的重要。片名看似帶有弦外之音，就像高達暗示，假如監製或其他人要干擾導演的藝術創作，就索性我行我素，忠於自己的道路好了。這大概亦示範了高達如何純熟地運用電影媒體來做評論。
　　A film in three chapters: Godard plays the director in the main chapter, rushing to catch a plane to pass the negatives to his producer within 24 hours; an electronic duo keeps rehearsing for their roadshow; a clumsy fat man gets involved in an incident, and is arrested after being watched by a mysterious woman. Seemingly unrelated events, Godard is discussing the importance of film producer and artistic creativity. Godard is making the statement that if a producer or anyone interferes with creativity, it is better for the artist to go one's own way. A showpiece of how Godard uses the film media as his critical essay.

　　斯蒂芬尼（盖尔•加西亚•贝纳尔 Gael García Bernal 饰）是一个充满奇思妙想和新鲜念头的小伙子，他从墨西哥来到法国，并在亲戚的帮助下找到了这份机械枯燥的办公室工作。斯蒂芬尼喜欢做梦，梦里有着各种奇妙的事情；因为害羞他在女孩面前十分拘谨。这天，斯蒂芬尼搬来了一个新邻居——那个笑容温暖的邻居女孩有着和他一样得名字：斯蒂芬尼(夏洛特•甘斯布 Charlotte Gainsbourg 饰)。斯蒂芬发现她的想象力天赋和自己竟然十分相似。他们用只属于彼此的方式交往着，命运的连结也由此开始。

　　From the Louis Hemon novel "M. Ripois and His Nemesis" about Andre Ripois, a philanderer in pursuit of love and riches from Paris to London. Andre is breaking up with his wife, Catherine, over his attentions to her best friend Patricia. While Catherine is out arranging the divorce, Andre, just to keep in practice, hits on the girl upstairs, Diana and then turns his attention back to Patricia, who he tricks into having dinner at his flat on the pretext that Catherine will be there. When he cannot make any progress with her via his usual tactics, he tries to arouse her pity be telling her of his past. In his early, impoverished days in London, he made love to his boss Anne but her dreadful cooking drove him away. Next came Norah who he picked up on a bus and took to his flat and told her about his make-believe inheritance, but she insisted on marriage first, which was not in his plans. Marcelle, a French woman living in Soho, put him on his feet with money, and he repaid her by stealing fifty pounds and running off. He met the wealthy Catherine at his flat where she came to be tutored in French lessons, and ended up marrying him. But, even at his wedding, he had eyes only for Patricia and, he tells her she is his one true love.

　　文森特（伊万·阿达勒 Yvan Attal 饰），乔治（阿兰·夏巴 Alain Chabat 饰）和弗莱德（Alain Cohen 饰）是三个四十岁的男人。常说四十不惑，但真的到了四十岁，他们才发现，生命中让人想不明白的问题只会越来越多。在孩子的教育问题上，文森特和妻子常常发生口角，这给他们的婚姻蒙上了阴影。乔治有一个奉行女权主义的妻子，他的悲惨生活可想而知。当生命行进过半时，这两个男人才开始问自己，这样的生活真的是他们想要的吗？
　　在这两个不幸福的朋友眼里，弗莱德是他们羡慕的对象，因为他没有家庭没有孩子，成日过着风一般自由的生活。但两人有所不知的是，即使是看上去洒脱又不羁的弗莱德，也有着自己的烦恼。