In this whimsical fable, Resnais deftly interweaves three story lines: the creation of an early-20th-century utopia; romantic high jinks at a school conference; and a fantasy sparked by F/X pioneer Georges Méliès.

Pierrot, a short-sighted, indolent and distracted young boy gets involved in a carnival at the Palais de la Rigolade whose main attraction is to place the women in an ascending current of air which makes their skirts fly. A fight in this Palace makes him lose his job. Then he meets Yvonne, the daughter of Pradonet, the owner of the funfair. He falls in love with Yvonne who hardly seems to share his feelings.