It has been said that most great twentieth century novels include scenes in a hotel, a symptom of the vast uprooting that has occurred in the last century: James Ivory begins Quartet with a montage of the hotels of Montparnasse, a quiet prelude before our introduction to the violently lost souls who inhabit them.
　　Adapted from the 1928 autobiographical novel by Jean Rhys, Quartet is the story of a love quadrangle between a complicated young West Indian woman named Marya (played by Isabelle Adjani), her husband Stefan (Anthony Higgins), a manipulative English art patron named Heidler (Alan Bates), and his painter wife Lois (Maggie Smith). The film is set in the Golden Age of Paris, Hemingway's "moveable feast" of cafe culture and extravagant nightlife, glitter and literati: yet underneath is the outline of something sinister beneath the polished brasses and brasseries.
　　When Marya's husband is put in a Paris prison on charges of selling stolen art works, she is left indigent and is taken in by Heidler and his wife: the predatory Englishman (whose character Rhys bases on the novelist Ford Madox Ford) is quick to take advantage of the new living arrangement, and Marya finds herself in a stranglehold between husband and wife. Lovers alternately gravitate toward and are repelled by each other, now professing their love, now confessing their brutal indifference -- all the while keeping up appearances. The film explores the vast territory between the "nice" and the "good," between outward refinement and inner darkness: after one violent episode, Lois asks Marya not to speak of it to the Paris crowd. "Is that all you're worried about?" demands an outraged Marya. "Yes," Lois replies with icy candor, "as a matter of fact."
　　Adjani won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her performances in Quartet: her Marya is a volatile compound of French schoolgirl and scorned mistress, veering between tremulous joy and hysterical outburst. Smith shines in one of her most memorable roles: she imbues Lois with a Katherine-of-Aragon impotent rage, as humiliated as she is powerless in the face of her husband's choices. Her interactions with Bates are scenes from a marriage that has moved from disillusionment to pale acceptance.
　　Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and James Ivory's screenplay uses Rhys's novel as a foundation from which it constructs a world that is both true to the novel and distinctive in its own right, painting a society that has lost its inhibitions and inadvertently lost its soul. We are taken to mirrored cafes, then move through the looking glass: Marya, in one scene, is offered a job as a model and then finds herself in a sadomasochistic pornographer's studio. The film, as photographed by Pierre Lhomme, creates thoroughly cinematic moments that Rhy's novel could not have attempted: in one of the Ivory's most memorable scenes, a black American chanteuse (extraordinarily played by Armelia McQueen) entertains Parisian patrons with a big and brassy jazz song, neither subtle nor elegant. Ivory keeps the camera on the singer's act: there is something in her unguarded smile that makes the danger beneath Montparnasse manners seem more acute.

　　父亲离世后，来到天桥摆摊卖手表的小康（李康生）同母亲一样，虽自觉与其并无多少情感，却无法摆脱其在精神上的无处不在。因为一块可以显示出巴黎与台北时差的手表，小康结识要去巴黎的湘琪（陈湘琪 饰），自此，精神抑压的他以为同巴黎（湘琪 饰）取得了某种形式的关联，获得某种虚空的安慰。
　　当小康通过把时钟调快7小时、观看电影《四百击》等形式来表达他对湘琪暧昧的思念时，远在巴黎的湘琪也并没能从生活中找到多少积极的意义。无论同性（叶童）还是异性，她均无法从他们身上得到想要的温暖。

　　故事发生在1671年的法国，王公贵族们纸醉金迷的奢侈生活让百姓们陷入了水深火热和民不聊生的糟糕境地中，愤怒和反抗的情绪日益增加。可是，即便是在这样的情况下，库德王子（朱利安·格洛弗 Julian Glover 饰）满脑子里想着的，依旧是如何讨好自己的父亲路易十四（朱利安·山德斯 Julian Sands 饰）。为此，库德王子决定举办一个为期三天的壮大宴会，他将此任务全权交给了侍从瓦尔特（杰拉尔·德帕迪约 Gérard Depardieu 饰）处理。
　　瓦尔特出色的完成了王子交代给他的任务，宴会上的所有来宾都对他们的所闻所见感到满意和惊奇。一个名叫安妮（乌玛·瑟曼 Uma Thurman 饰）的贵妇的出现让瓦尔特坠入了情网，不幸的是，路易十四似乎也想要得到安妮。在如此强大的情敌面前，瓦尔特陷入了痛苦之中。

　　Charlie, a young aristocrat in turn of the century England, meets a boy named Frank on the road to Portsmouth. What Charlie doesn't realize is that Frank is actually Frances, who's donned a disguise to escape working at a brothel. Charlie takes Frank/Frances into his home, and when he discovers her true identity, the two become lovers. He sends her to London to be trained by his mistress in the art of sex, but she learns much more about her identity as a woman. Before the opening credits, explicitly on-screen it reads: "Based on the famous Victorian erotic novel by an anonymous writer".

　　Atlanta, 1873. It's another day (Melanie's funeral, in fact), and Scarlett is determined to win back Rhett (who's spending a lot of time with Belle Watling). First, she goes to Tara and spats with Sue Ellen over Tara. Then she goes to Charleston, presenting herself to Rhett's mother and friends, to Rhett's dismay. But when she's caught in a compromising position with Ashely, she retires to her mother's people in Savannah, and her overbearing grandfather Robelard, while Rhett courts a new bride. Scarlett also seeks out her O'Hara relatives and meets her cousin Colum, a priest (and gunrunner). And knowing them, she goes to Ireland. There she meets the handsome Earl of Fenton, who owns Ballyhara, the ancestral home of the O'Haras. And when Scarlett buys it from him, she becomes the financial and spiritual head of the family. But her newfound happiness is short-lived as disasters strike, and she must rely on Rhett's love for her to save her from the gallows.

　　影片故事发生在当代巴黎，德国电影制作人托马斯（罗戈夫斯基饰）通过与一位名叫阿加特（阿黛尔饰）的年轻女子的激烈恋情拥抱了自己的性取向，这种冲动模糊了他与丈夫马丁（本·卫肖饰）之间的界限。当马丁开始自己的婚外情时，他成功地重新获得了丈夫的关注，同时也引起了托马斯的嫉妒。 与 矛盾的情绪作斗争，托马斯必须要么接受他婚姻的局限，要么接受这段关系已经走到尽头。
　　萨克斯对人类体验的扎根考察，着重于身体和情感吸引力之间的异同，并提出了 将艺术与艺术家分开的问题。 优雅的电影摄影与非常复杂的表演巧妙地平衡，让他的角色在安静、不舒服的时刻安顿下来，直面他们的不完美。 段落是一个非常亲密的作品，拒绝回避生活的混乱。

　　劳拉•艾什（丽贝卡•罗梅恩 饰）与同党瑞西、威克斯在一个电影首映式上，出尽法宝要偷取一条佩戴在某位明星身上，价值千万的钻石项链。劳拉在神不知鬼不觉之间，把仿品成功与真品掉包。同党打算把女明星杀掉，劳拉出手阻止。两人较量时，劳拉把同党一同杀死了。
　　劳拉害怕自己的身份被识破，处处躲藏，直到她得到了另一个身份。一个与她相貌惊人相似的女人莉莉自杀了，当她目睹这一切之际，她决定盗用莉莉的身份。借助新的身份她的新生活开始了，她也成为了他人的妻子，感受到了家庭的温暖。
　　尼古拉斯（安东尼奥•班德拉斯 饰）的职业是记者，自他认识劳拉后，他对劳拉鲜为人知的过去非常感兴趣，企图要揭开她的底细，也因此迫使劳拉要对自己的身份作出抉择……

　　讲述一对好莱坞夫妇和他们的女儿安妮特的故事：丈夫亨利（亚当·德赖弗 Adam Driver 饰）是一位单口喜剧演员，妻子安则是一名歌剧明星（玛丽昂·歌迪亚 Marion Cotillard 饰），而他们神秘的女儿安妮特，又拥有怎样不同寻常的人生呢？

　　故事发生在等级制度森严的英国，年轻的康妮（西尔维娅·克里斯蒂 Sylvia Kristel 饰）终于等来了与自己分别多时的丈夫克利福特（Shane Briant 饰），但同时也等来了丈夫下半身永久瘫痪的噩耗。面对残酷的现实，善良的康妮只得默默接受。
　　一次偶然中，康妮邂逅了庄园的看林人米尔斯（尼古拉斯·克莱 Nicholas Clay 饰），后者健壮结实的躯体让康妮的内心激动难耐。一来二往之下，康妮和米尔斯发生了关系，尽管粗鲁的情人大字不识一个，但康妮依旧在他的身上找到了久违的满足与热情。纸终究包不住火，康妮和米尔斯之间的奸情败露，令克利福特大为火光，同时，在英国已经无法生存的米尔斯决定前往加拿大开辟新的天地，究竟该留下还是离开，康妮面临着严峻的选择。

　　John (杰瑞米艾伦斯饰)是一个在香港生活多年的英国摄影师;他的朋友Jim (罗宾布雷兹饰)经常光顾他的公寓. John迷恋酒吧主的女友Vivian (巩俐饰),但一直被她拒绝.就在香港回归之际, John发现自己患上了一种奇怪的白血病并且只剩下几个月的命.于是John, Jim,和一个他们在街上遇见的神秘女子Jean(张曼玉饰)开始用一个相机到处拍摄香港的景象，要在香港回归的最后一刻拍到真正的香港......

　　35岁的诺拉（帕克•波西 Parker Posey 饰）是曼哈顿的一个成功的职业女性――她是一间高级酒店的客服主管。虽然她精明能干，一眼就能看穿客人的需要，但是她却一直未能找到自己的爱情归宿，她在处理感情方面简直一塌糊涂。诺拉曾同酒店的客人――明星尼克发生过关系，但当她满怀憧憬的时候，才发现对方不过是为了演出而和她体验生活。
　　在一个个“第一次约会”失败后，心灰意冷的诺拉遇上了说着一口蹩脚英语的法国人朱利安（梅尔维•珀波 Melvil Poupaud 饰）。两人的感情迅速升温，可是朱利安很快就要回法国了，他邀请诺拉和他一起“私奔”。可是感情屡受挫折的诺拉竟忽然没了信心，拒绝了朱利安。当朱利安回国后，诺拉才恍然大悟：自己再也没法忘掉这个男人。于是她在好友陪伴下来到了巴黎。

　　1929年的越南是法国殖民地，一个15岁的法国少女（珍·玛奇 饰）在西贡女子寄宿学校读书。每逢假期她便回家，母亲办了一所很小的学校，收入甚少。她有两个哥哥，大哥比尔吸毒成瘾且横行霸道，二哥保罗生性懦弱，常受大哥的欺负。一天少女一如往常一样告别母亲乘上渡船回学校，在船上遇到一个坐黑色大轿车的中国阔少爷（梁家辉 饰），他是华侨富翁的独生子。中国男人喜欢这名白人少女便去搭讪，两人便搭上了。 少女在寄宿学校里知道有的女生在外卖淫，她也想找个有钱人试试，因此很主动地与男人交谈。上岸后两人逛了西贡，还一起上馆子吃中国饭菜，男人用汽车送她回学校。第二天刚放学，黑色汽车就等在校门口了。 两人很快就坠入爱河。男人把少女带到他的公馆，这是中国富人们常用来金屋藏娇的地方。他俩在这里幽会、洗澡、玩耍。有时晚上也不回学校，校方只好通知她的母亲，然而……

　　年轻空姐卡珊卓任职于廉航，每日飞往不同城市却从不观光，只想流连电音派对、沉迷酒精或在交友软体找对象。对公司来说，她是无可挑剔的员工；恪遵每条工作指南、达成每项销售目标、答应每次加班要求，甚至不声援同仁的工会活动。但在她耐心对待麻烦乘客，亲切服务倍受赞扬的完美妆容下，却没人察觉她眼底的那抹悲伤。
　　双导演对空服员一职细心考究，延请多位航空公司职员出演，以纪录片般的精准度，呈现空服员的专业劳动。阿黛儿艾萨卓普洛斯独挑大梁，继《蓝色是最温暖的颜色》后再展自然纯粹的本色演技，女主角的荒腔走板日常，是卡夫卡式的现代寓言，抑或是寂寞伤痛的另一种诠释？