The film follows four families, with different nationalities (French, German, Russian and American) but with the same passion for music, from the 1930s to the 1960s. The various story lines cross each other time and again in different places and times, with their own theme scores that evolve as time passes. The main event in the film is the Second World War, which throws the stories of the four musical families together and mixes their fates. Although all characters are fictional, many of them are loosely based on historical musical icons (Édith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Herbert von Karajan, Glenn Miller, Rudolf Nureyev, etc.) The Boléro dance sequence at the end brings all the threads together.
Cast
Robert Hossein
Simon Meyer / Robert Prat
Nicole Garcia
Anne Meyer
Geraldine Chaplin
Suzan / Sara Glenn
Daniel Olbrychski
Karl Kremer
Jorge Donn
Boris & Sergei Itovitch / Lead Dancer of Boléro
Rita Poelvoorde
Tatiana & Tania Itovitch
Macha Méril
Magda Kremer
Évelyne Bouix
Evelyne / Edith
Francis Huster
Francis
Raymond Pellegrin
M. Raymond
Paul Préboist
Le grand-père d'Edith
Jean-Claude Brialy
Le directeur du Lido
Marthe Villalonga
La grand-mère d'Edith
Fanny Ardant
Véronique
Jean-Claude Bouttier
Philippe Rouget
Richard Bohringer
Richard
Nicole Croisille
Nicole Croisille
Ginette Garcin
Ginette
Jean-Pierre Kalfon
Père Antoine
Geneviève Mnich
Jeanne
Alexandra Stewart
Alexandra
Éva Darlan
Eva
Manuel Gélin
Patrick Prat
Candice Patou
Candice
Maïa Simon
Me Isabelle Prat
James Caan
Jack Glenn / Jason Glenn
Sarah Abrell
Féodor Atkine
Alexis
Mireille Audibert
Jean-Claude Bourbault
Le garde-barrière
Christophe Bourseiller
Jean-Pierre Castaldi
Anne Caudry
La fille d'Eva
Louise Chevalier
La bonne du Père Antoine
Véronique Coquet
Thérèse Crémieux
Katalin Csarny
Dan Daes
Nicole Daresco
Gina
Andrée Delair
Linda Dingwall
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu
Le représentant Croix Rouge (UNICEF)
Maxime Dufeu
Le voisin
Andy Fenwick
Glenn as a boy
Farmer Fuller
Ernie Garrett
Bobby
Charles Gérard
Charlot
Evelyne Hue
Gérard Ismaël
Philippe Jacques
Lyle Joyce
Mr. Tracy
Jacques Villeret
Jacques
Valérie Quennessen
Francis's girlfriend
Sharon Stone
Girl with Glenn Senior (uncredited)
