When 17-year-old Effi Briest marries the elderly Baron von Instetten, she moves to a small, isolated Baltic town and a house that she fears is haunted. Starved for companionship, Effi begins a friendship with Major Crampas, a charismatic womanizer.

Hanna Schygulla
as Effi Briest

Wolfgang Schenck
as Baron Geert von Instetten

Ulli Lommel
as Major Crampas

Lilo Pempeit
as Frau Briest

Herbert Steinmetz
as Herr Briest

Ursula Strätz
as Roswitha

Irm Hermann
as Johanna

Karlheinz Böhm
as Wullersdorf

Karl Scheydt
as Kruse

Barbara Lass
as Köchin