The german journalist Laschen leaves a troubled marriage and some questions of self-worth behind him and travels to Beirut to write about the obsessive, violent war raging there. Amid a group of disillusioned reporters who see the fighting in the Middle East as just another sign of the times, Laschen vows to get to the heart of the true story and discover the emotional answer to the ever-present question of „why?“ He meets and falls in love with the beautiful Ananna Nassar, a wealthy German aristocrat still living in a mansion in the middle of the bombed-out rubble. When the fighting becomes more intense and the lives of the journalists become threatened, most of the reporters leave Beirut for safer territory. Laschen remains, determined to understand the violence and to report it to the world. Convinced that Ananna loves him and that she will want him to leave his wife and family for her, Laschen goes to her home on a surprise visit. When approaching the mansion, he sees that Ananna is with a Lebanese fighter. Realizing that she has never loved him and that he has been just another comfort for her, Laschen wanders the war-torn streets at night escaping death several times. He soon understands that the bloody war in Beirut is indeed another example of man’s hatred and brutality and that there is no reason that he can miraculously discover. Alone but now aware, Laschen returns to Germany.