抗战中后期，山西玄武关附近，日军步兵463联队遭八路军毁灭性围歼，全员团灭，代表日军荣耀的军旗不知去向，日军遂命令一支不受人待见的独立愚连队“左文字小队”前往全力搜索军旗，而八路军游击队等各方部队也展开了围抢军旗行动，一场别开生面，哭笑不得的军旗争夺战就此拉开帷幕。。。。

丁洁琼（谢芳 饰）的意外到来，令苏冠兰（康泰 饰）惊愕不已，他无法向夫人叶玉涵（袁玫 饰）做出解释。原来丁洁琼是他二十八年前的恋人，他们邂逅于丁洁琼的一次意外落水，科学救国的共同志向使当时的两个年青人产生爱情，私订终身。苏的父亲苏凤琪（石羽 饰）执意要儿子和故友的女儿叶玉涵成婚，苏冠兰百股推诿，不肯就范。他打算同丁共赴美国留学，以造成“逃婚”事实。谁知，美国联邦特务查路德（林征 饰）从中作梗，无奈之下，丁洁琼只好自己走了，在美留学数年，在奥姆霍斯（尼尔·伯尔顿饰）博士的帮助下，丁洁琼也获得博士学位。期间二战爆发，她因反对美国使用原子弹而遭监禁。苏凤琪骗儿子说丁已和美国人结婚，不明内情的苏冠兰只好和救过自己一命的叶玉涵完婚......本片根据张扬同名小说改编。

The story is about an unnamed detective, hired by a beautiful, alcoholic woman, to find clues related to the disappearance of her husband. In the process, the detective is given a map (a ruined one), supposedly to help him, but which turns out in the end to be more like a metaphor of the guidelines one should have in life. The impossibility of finding relevant clues to help him solve the mystery leads the main character to an existential crisis, which builds slowly from inside and finally puts him in the position of identifying himself with the man he was supposed to find.The Man Without a Map (燃えつきた地図 Moetsukita chizu) is a 1968 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara and starring Shintaro Katsu. The screenplay was adapted by Kōbō Abe from his novel The Ruined Map. This was the fourth and final film collaboration between Teshigahara and Abe.

故事描述必须赚钱谋生的少年，骑着摩托车，逢人就问需不需要帮忙，但总是得不到善意回应。后来好友找少年去自己家的鱼塭帮忙收成，收成结束需返还马达钥匙，好友父亲让他们一起送至邻村。然而到达时，少年发现钥匙不见了。面对已涨潮的海水，男孩说什么也要找到钥匙，因为这是他得到认可的难得机会。