Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.
Three stories told simultaneously in ninety minutes of real time: a Republican Senator who's a presidential hopeful gives an hour-long interview to a skeptical television reporter, detailing a strategy for victory in Afghanistan; two special forces ambushed on an Afghani ridge await rescue as Taliban forces close in; a poli-sci professor at a California college invites a student to re-engage.
As a young teen, Alyssa has a relationship with abusive 21-year-old Steven, but their path takes a dark turn after she has his child, so she gives her up for adoption.
In 17th-century Tuscany, a church play is performed for the benefit of young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy.
Crafty railroad worker Bart becomes the first Black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad.
A collage film, a dialogue between mother and the unborn child, the film can be seen as a personal self-analysis by René Paquot, who dreamily delivers his conflicts with maternal, medical and religious authority.
On a beach in Nice, François meets the mysterious Peggy and falls in love with her. Following her to a villa, he meets Marc, a lawyer who has a strange relationship with the girl.