茱莉亚(费·唐纳薇 Faye Dunaway 饰)刚刚结束了一段失败的婚姻,为了排解心中的郁闷,她决定前往威尼斯,和朋友们待在一起。一次偶然中,茱莉亚在电视上看到了一位名叫瓦利瑞恩(马塞洛·马斯楚安尼 Marcello Mastroianni 饰)的工程师接受采访,茱莉亚回想起这正是曾经和自己有过一面之缘的那个男人。 怀着激动之情,茱莉亚主动联络了瓦利瑞恩,和茱莉亚所想的一样,瓦利瑞恩是一位温文尔雅的绅士,随着接触的增加,两人之间燃起了热烈的爱情火花。然而,这段幸福时光并没有持续多久,在感情受到伤害的同时,茱莉亚惊闻自己换上了不治之症,绝望之中,她想到了自我了断。Julia, a divorced American fashion designer, is dying of a tragic, incurable disease. With only ten days to live, she spends her time vacationing in an Italian villa and watching television. She spots a TV interview with an Italian engineer Valerio, who designs plastic air bags to protect passengers in automobile collisions. She recognizes his face as having met him before at the airport and calls him up to invite him over to her villa where they decide to spend the next several days together, making love. Julia's friend Maggie reappears and reveals that Julia is actually an escapee from the hospital where she was being treated for her disease. Maggie urges Julia to return to the hospital where she can die a painless death. Julia ignores her and returns to the villa and the arms of her lover. Maggie then telephones Valerio and tells him about Julia's condition. Valerio is willing to stay for the duration but Julia is so upset by the fact that her lover knows her secret that she runs to a nearby mountaintop with the intention of committing suicide.