Ottocaro Weiss (the main character in the film) has a flea circus that, for external circumstances (insecticides), is out "actors". Then he decided to make a show about the bubonic plague.
Joseph is hired by an inventor and moves in with his family. Although he doesn't get any salary for his work, he stays on because he believes that the highly dysfunctional family needs to be rescued.
It is carnival time in Munich and participants are overindulging in alcohol and sensual pleasures. "Follow us into madness" beckons Lys who is drunk on life, but the sensitive Henry does ...