Swedish lieutenant Sixten Sparre had long admired the tightrope walker Elvira Madigan, and one summer day in 1889, they eloped to Denmark. He left his wife, two children, and a brilliant military career, while she left her parents and the cramped, dreary conditions of Circus Madigan. At Taasinge, the couple experiences summer, people, flowers, warmth, light, colors—and great love. But their happiness is short-lived...