Querelle tells the story of a beautiful, proud and tough loner, a sailor named Querelle (Brad Davis, Midnight Express), whose commanding officer Seblon (Franco Nero, Camelot, Django) worships and desires him from afar. Querelle turns on his drug-smuggling partner and murders him. He then goes to a notorious brothel run by the rapacious Lysiane (Jeanne Moreau, The Trial, Elevator to the Gallows), and discovers that his brother Robert is the lover of the lady owner. Here, you can play dice with Nono, Lysiane's husband. If you win, you are allowed to make love with Lysiane, if you lose, you have to make love with Nono. Querelle loses on purpose. Subsequently, he falls in love with a fellow murderer Gil (Hanno Poschl, Revanche). Partly because his love for Gil panics him, and partly so that he can keep Gil all to himself, Querelle betrays him to the police. But by now, Querelle has become vulnerable, and soon the once powerful object of passion comes to belong to Seblon.