It is based on Marcel Proust's seven-volume novel sequence In Search of Lost Time, specifically a self-contained section of the first volume, the title of which typically translates as Swann's Way (1913).

The film's story follows an original treatment of Proust's story by theater and film director Peter Brook, who was originally going to make the movie, setting it as a day in the life of the aging and ill Charles Swann (Jeremy Irons), who looks back on his past life in flashbacks.

The young Swann is an idly wealthy eligible bachelor in the best circles of Belle Époque Paris, although he is still regarded as something of a social outsider because of his Jewish background.

Swann's interest in Odette is at first encouraged by Madame Verdurin (Marie-Christine Barrault), a hostess who oversees a tightly-knit, exclusive, and decadent social circle.

His friend, the overtly gay Baron de Charlus (Alain Delon), helps to arrange for Swann and Odette to meet.