Computer expert Victor Faber (Bruno Ganz) develops and monitors the programmes and computer systems of corporations and banks. A loner, he plays computer chess and hardly lets anyone get close to him. But one day he meets Juliet. Faber falls in love with the mysterious woman, and not long after, he's is persuaded by Juliet's friend Melo to use his expertise to rob a bank. At first, everything goes according to plan - but when a security guard is shot during the preparations everything gets out of control. Rudolf Thome's SYSTEM WITHOUT SHADOW shows the possibilities of computer crime at the beginning of the 1980s. The US-American performance artist Laurie Anderson makes several guest appearances in this exciting thriller.