As in Boorman's other films, its material is the complex problem of civilisation, here pinpointed in a London slum. Leo, an exiled European aristocrat, accompanied by his mistress, Margaret, and his friend and supporter, Laszlo, arrives in London to seek rest from the pressures of public life. His interest in bird watching is ultimately pushed into the background as he becomes aware of the oppression that surrounds him. He assumes responsibility for others in the street in which he lives, and offers to help a young black girl and her impoverished family. His concern for his neighbours leads him to the rejection of his aristocratic life-style and rings a profound change in his values.