The primary characters are known only as the Young Girl and the Chinese Man. The daughter of bitter, fearful, poverty-stricken colonials, the girl is a pretty waif who wears an old silk dress and a fedora, and paints her lips bright red when out of her mother's sight. She and her family are French, but live in Vietnam where her mother is a schoolteacher to local children. Her weak-willed mother, violent older brother, and timid younger brother live in a rural section across the river. The girl is a loner but an excellent student, who dreams of being a writer.
The girl meets the Chinese man when crossing the river on the ferry to return to the city after a school holiday. He is the son of a businessman whose fortune was made in real estate, and has recently returned from Paris after dropping out of school. He has the look but lacks the self-assurance of the playboy he fancies himself to be, and he is mesmerized the first time he sees her standing by the rail on a crowded ferry crossing the Mekong River. After some awkward conversation, he offers her a ride to Saigon in his chauffeur-driven limousine and she accepts, although the two barely speak during the drive. In voice-over at the beginning of the film she originally gives her age as 15, but tells the man she is 17. He, as well, appears to exaggerate when he states he is 32, considering the usual age of the recent graduate at the time. The following day, he waits for her outside her boarding school, and the two go to the room he rents for entertaining mistresses in the seedy Chinese quarter, where they have sex.
They realize that "a future together is unthinkable" because she is scheduled to return to Paris soon, and he is arranged to marry a Chinese heiress. Aware of the limited time they have together, they fall into a relationship in which they shed all responsibilities that come with commitment. Every day after school, the girl goes to the rented room somewhat ambiguously acting out her pretend fantasy of the life of a fashionable courtesan.
The girl's family discovers the affair, and though at first angry, they encourage her to continue because the man is wealthy and able to pay off some of their debts. Despite this added tension, the affair continues passionately. The man even goes so far as to beg his father for his allowance to be with her instead of entering into his arranged marriage, but his father would rather see him dead than with a white girl. Though both devastated, the man marries his arranged bride, and the girl boards a ship days later to return to France.
Decades later, the girl has become a successful writer. In the final scene, the Chinese Man telephones her as he is visiting France with his wife. After some introductory reminiscence, he then comes to assure her that he never stopped loving her, and that he will not stop for the rest of his life.
Which method of transportation does the girl use to return to France?
Ship