A plot to kill the king in a nameless Middle European monarchy is foiled because, apparently, the conspirators can't tell the difference between assassination and sex. The film was meant to be an erotic comedy about how the spontaneity of life and love will always be at odds with the more orderly impulses of the intellect (in this case Communist doctrine following the First World War), but unfortunately the same sense of uninhibited freedom also conflicts with narrative continuity, since the plot has to be halted every so often for a roll in the hay. The handsome Yugoslavian settings recall a Brothers Grimm fairy tale conceived by Maurice Sendak (one of director Dusan Makavejev's acknowledged influences), but all the tempestuous passion looks more like lowbrow comic book lechery. As a result the film wavers uncertainly between playful political satire and cheap sex farce, without ever deciding which one it wants to be. The script, according to press material, was loosely (very loosely) based on a story by Emile Zola.