Felix, the master of the cello, has died. At his funeral appear his wife and many mistresses, his concert manager, and the critic Cornelius. A flashback occurs, in which Cornelius arrives at Felix's, actually, the estate of a wealthy woman. Cornelius is doing a biography on the cellist, but is willingly seduced on the first night by the stylized striptease of one of Felix's women.

Somebody shoots at Cornelius as he lies in bed with his seductress. The next morning, while searching for the gunwoman, he overhears the women discussing their various affairs. They have scheduled their lovemaking so that each gets equal time with Felix. Cornelius is unable to see Felix and tries dressing up as a woman to meet him. Finally, he confronts the cellist, telling him that history will forget him unless Cornelius does his biography, and that Cornelius will not do his biography unless Felix plays Cornelius' music composition.

Felix relents, but as he is about to play the piece at his important radio concert, he dies. All mourn him until a new master cellist shows up. Felix is forgotten.

"One of the rarest things in contemporary cinema—an underrated Ingmar Bergman film. Made in 1964, after The Silence, this colour comedy follows the mishaps of a music critic who visits a famous cellist he's writing a book about. Ostensibly Bergman's revenge against critics, as Pale Fire was for Vladimir Nabokov, this odd venture features Jarl Kulle, Georg Funkquist, and many of Bergman's best actresses."

"That film is an outburst of really bad temper....When I made that film I was tired and fed up. And it shows. It's a nasty, hurt sort of film."

Philip Strick: "Film Notes"