The Arkadians are a civilization that survived a great cataclysm and moved to the center of the earth, thriving under the power of their artificial sun, The Tehra, until one day it began to fail. In desperation, the Arkadians broke the ancient law and entered the Forbidden Archives to search for an answer. They used their special powers and created a messenger to the people above, naming her Arkana. She meets up with Matt and Rebecca, two ordinary kids from the surface world, Bic and Bac, two strange anteaters from Arkadia, and Spartakus, a mysterious warrior. Together they search the worlds of the strata for a way to save a people and possibly the world.

影片改编自出生于意大利罗马的法国作家、诗人、艺术评论家纪尧姆•阿波利奈尔（Guillaume Apollinaire；1880.8.26~1918.11.9）发表于1907年的禁毁情爱名著《一万一千鞭》（Les Onze Mille Verges）。该书是一本描写性变态、性虐待的世界禁书。一个淫乱无度的罗马尼亚亲王，不仅性虐待女人，而且喜欢让别人性虐待自己，越是挨鞭笞时性欲就越高涨，最后成为日本兵的俘虏以后，被判处痛打一万一千鞭，从而结束了他肮脏的一生。
年轻的银行职员罗曼工作、家庭两重天，在他的办公室里，罗曼每天都要面对含情脉脉的一群年轻姑娘们，而回到家中，则是妻子拘谨陈腐的冰霜脸。于是他便在纪尧姆•阿波利奈尔的《一万一千鞭》里寻找他的慰藉，当他读着读着睡着进入梦乡之后，他成了书中罗马尼亚亲王的后裔，沿着祖先的足迹，飘飘然地进入了一个与他的浪荡先辈如出一辙的花花世界。尽管梦中的罗曼在成了日本兵的俘虏后醒来，但这个梦的经历足以让他有了如何改变他未来生活的灵感。

Three stories. A solitary sailor falls from his boat and washes ashore on a tropical island. While seeking rescue, he's found by a nearly naked woman who is playful and compliant. He decides to erase his signs of distress and remain on the island. What awaits? In the second, an adolescent searches for the words of a nursery rime he remembers bits of. His journey takes him into dreams, sexual awakening, and Oedipal fantasy. Third, a man of wealth in late-nineteenth century Paris hires a prostitute for the night. She's also cabaret performer and takes him to her room. He fears he's about to be robbed.

Piel, a 7 or 8 year old boy, is alone on the desert planet Perdide, only survivor of an attack by giant hornets. Calling for help, Piel's father's friend Jaffar keeps contact with the kid and hurries across space toward Perdide.

The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.