In a foggy twilight landscape of late-Impressionist gloom, a mother and her son live in a mansion forgotten by time. Ruben, the son, is blind, but still remembers when he could see. He is a fierce, wild young man who rages at the world. Hoping to calm his tormented soul, his mother hires Marie to read for him, a mysterious woman who does not like to be seen. With patience and authority, she gradually tames Ruben with the gentle power of her voice, giving rise to images of crystalline clarity in his mind. Ruben falls in love with Marie, imagining her to be as young and beautiful as the voice he hears...