Based on Italian director Federico Fellin's comic masterpiece of biographical filmmaking, 8 1/2, Maury Yeston's sultry and enchanting musical follows the life of world famous film director Guido Contini as he prepares his latest picture and balances the numerous women in his life. Contino is also, after recent box office failures, drifting towards a nervous breakdown, from which he is held back only by the support of his wife, Luisa. As his sanity disintegrates, he drifts into nostalgic reverie, eventually focusing on the formative sexual encounter of his life, which occurred at the age of nine.