Gideon Bachmann instructs the young film student Marie with the inventory of his belongings. An enormous conglomeration of stories of a man who can be characterized as a witness of the 20th century. Trial and Error recounts the encounter between an old man who struggles with death and a young film student who's seeking stories. Gideon's biography and the study of his eclectic character are central motives of this film. In this manner the documentary establishes a discourse about life and death and comments on the ambivalent relationship between director and protagonist.