Firmin, who returned mute from the war of 14-18, has never displeased anyone for twenty years in terms of political life where low blows, jealousy and betrayal are rife in his Provençal village. But an explosion gives him the floor.

Two young revelers, driven by a Russian driver, are taken to an unknown neighborhood at the gates of a cafecinema where they are going to attend a screening of 1909. They see Douglas Fairbanks, Max Linder, William Hart, Prince Rigadin, Norma Talmadge , Lya de Putti...

In the oyster and fishing town of Arcachon, one man doesn't want his adopted son to get married to the daughter of his rival, and he suspects a dark underlying secret.