A world in which violins start playing when two people kiss. Johann Steiner, alias Joe, earns his living as a fauxadversary at boxing matches. To Joe, life is a personal war between him and the rest of the world. That all changes the night he meets Rosa at a fight. She too is one of life's losers, but she has a very different take on things. Resolute and direct is the way she goes through life, always in search of her big moment. Attracted to her energy, Joe seeks Rosa's company time and again. All at once the city that, only a short while before, seemed so dismal, now becomes an adventure and a challenge.