Otto Kullberg, played by Henry Hübchen, is a famous German actor. He's starred in over 50 films. His main problem is alcohol. His last film had to be abandoned after six months of filming, because he was unable to continue. Now he's been given another chance. He has the lead role in a film called "Tango for three", in which he has an affair with a mother and her daughter. After Otto collapses drunk on the set of the film the studio panics and makes a drastic suggestion: all the scenes in which Otto appears have to be filmed twice, once with Otto and once with a replacement actor. This isn't just so that the film can be salvaged if Otto bombs out again, it's to motivate Otto to try harder. A much younger actor is chosen, Arno Runge, an experienced theatre actor who has never made any films.
The effect on Otto is dramatic. Seeing a younger man playing his role reminds him of his own age. "We don't become old, we wake up one day and we're old". The competition between Otto and Arno continues off screen. The film's leading lady, Bettina Moll, is the director's wife, but also one of Otto's many ex-lovers. Otto rekindles his relationship with Bettina, but Arno also makes advances to her.
"I don't make a film because I'm certain of something, but because I want to discover something. A film is just an assumption. It's about finding new ways to portray things that keep repeating themselves, the great phenomena in life: love, death and the weather".
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