剧情介绍：
影片配角是一个78岁的英国著名作家，他身患重病却依然酗酒成性，口不择言。夜晚不时陷于噩梦的缠绕中，令他想入非非，一边揣摩着他最初一部作品的情节构思，一边回想着他的往事。于是，噩梦、他的想象加上往事的回想互相混杂在一同，共同构成了他作品的故事框架。
影片将文学创作的进程跟梦想、愤恨等融为一体，制造了一个精致的弗洛伊德哑谜。这是雷奈的第一部用英语拍摄的影片。剧本比拟拗口罗嗦，有较重的文学味，影片被以为是雷奈的杰作，博加德的上演尤为精深，但普通观众能够会觉得单调有趣。
Clive Langham (Sir John Gielgud) spends one tormenting night in his bed suffering from health problems and thinking up a story based on his relatives. He is a bitter man and he shows, through flashbacks, how spiteful, conniving and treacherous his family is. But is this how they really are or is it his own vindictive slant on things?
