Intercut with concert recordings and contemporary interviews, social and personal conflicts are brought to life in scenes from the Scherben. Actor and musician Nick rehearses for the role of Rio Reiser in a theater production by the old-left director Heiner Caspari. In the confrontation with his role as Rio, in the controversies with Caspari and in the collaboration with Jako, Till and Arne, who play the band members, the boundaries between past and present become blurred, and not just for Nick. The situation escalates when the group retreats to Fresenhagen, the country house of the "Scherben", in a voluntary state of emergency. Despite his love story with Caspari's daughter Julia, Nick feels attracted to Jako and at the same time perceives this mixing of role and life as manipulation by Caspari. Jako, in turn, turns to Julia. The group threatens to break apart.