Fourteen-year-old Lola and her mother are trapeze artists in a Russian circus. Lola loves the circus, and she loves Leo, a young brown bear her stepfather bought. One day, Lola’s mother vanishes, and from then on Lola has to fend for herself. Lola trusts only Leo and tells him all her secrets. One night, a young man wakes Lola. At first she is frightened, but the young man tells her that he is Leo, the bear. He has the chance to become human in one year on the condition that, during the year, he must not kill anyone.
The circus moves on to Germany, and life becomes more and more difficult for Lola. She has to flee from the police with Leo and leave the circus. They end up with a traveling theatre with an alcoholic tyrant as its director, who tries to seduce Lola. She rejects his advances and he attacks her. Leo comes to the rescue, but in doing so breaks the golden rule and kills the director.