弗朗哥统治时期的西班牙马德里,女童安娜(Ana Torrent 饰)与两个姐妹在军官父亲安赛莫死后被过继给姨妈抚养,安塞莫在世时风流成性,母亲玛莉亚(Geraldine Chaplin 饰)为他放弃事业最后落得在寂寞压抑的生活中痛苦不堪,早早去世。关于母亲的记忆不时浮现在安娜脑海,这些记忆混同她对死亡的臆想慢慢影响了现实生活。姐妹三人在姨妈的看顾下并不安分,姨妈正陷入一场同安赛莫已婚战友的恋情,安娜的举止让她愈发感到威胁。安娜试图用一瓶所谓毒药帮助生活不能自理的祖母自杀,而那瓶物事不过只是苏打,祖母拒绝服毒,安娜又将目标对向了姨妈…… 本片获1976年戛纳电影节评审团大奖等多项褒奖。In Madrid, the orphan sisters Irene, Ana and Maite are raised by their austere aunt Paulina together with their mute and crippled grandmother after the death of their mother and their military father Anselmo. Ana is a melancholic girl, fascinated by death, after seeing her mother having a painful death and her father dead in bed.