Riedau, an idyllic wine-producing village on the Hungarian frontier with Austria. Young Sandor is brought to the local police station by border guards during New Years' celebrations. Next morning he has disappeared without a trace. When Sandor is finally discovered by chance in the stations detention cell he has survived for 18 days, suffering a loss of memory.

On the basis of the hardy perennial "boss-assistant" relation, "The Mortal Fortune" depicts the passion of worldly existence. The anonymous hero of the story, to which the spectator is introduced, attempts at freeing himself from his enslaved life. He finally has to realize the transience of the creature man and whithdraws from the constraints of worldly existence.

Grein, a truck driver, works for Sienmann, an undesirable man, dedicated to fraud.

This film is a kind of anthology about Vienna, from the invention of film to the present day. The aim is to break down the usual clichéd "image of Vienna" such as that found in the traditional "Vienna Film" by juxtaposing documentary footage, newly shot material and subjective sequences created by various artists. Individual, self-contained sections of the film gain new meaning within the context of historical material. Familiar sites appear estranged when edited together with historical scenes. Other scenes appear like a persiflage or satirical. The film does not incorporate any commentary whatsoever. It is a collage of diverse materials aimed at conveying a distanced image of Vienna to the viewer