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.
as Simon Meyer / Robert Prat
as Anne Meyer
as Suzan / Sara Glenn
as Karl Kremer
as Boris & Sergei Itovitch / Lead Dancer of Boléro
as Tatiana & Tania Itovitch
as Magda Kremer
as Evelyne / Edith
as Francis
as M. Raymond
as Le grand-père d'Edith
as Le directeur du Lido
as La grand-mère d'Edith
as Véronique
as Philippe Rouget
as Richard
as Nicole Croisille
as Ginette
as Père Antoine
as Jeanne
as Alexandra
as Eva
as Patrick Prat
as Candice
as Me Isabelle Prat
as Jack Glenn / Jason Glenn
as Alexis
as Le garde-barrière
as La fille d'Eva
as La bonne du Père Antoine
as Gina
as Le représentant Croix Rouge (UNICEF)
as Le voisin
as Glenn as a boy
as Bobby
as Charlot
as Mr. Tracy
as Jacques
as Francis's girlfriend
as Girl with Glenn Senior (uncredited)