Seventeenth century. Set in a small village, nestled between the sea and the mountain, the father of Alan, a young fifteen-year-old boy, has sold himself for two years to indentured service. Alan is forced to take the place of his father and struggles to support his family.

In a delicate style, Moeschler portrays the return of a young man from the countryside to his hometown. The ecstasy of the reencounter, the possibility of a fresh start, friendship and love, the deserted streets at night.

Despite the life threat hanging over his head, Stéphane decides to go back to Corsica for the funeral of Christophe, a childhood friend and companion in arms, murdered the day before. On this occasion, the chain of events which made him, the learned petit-bourgeois from Bastia, shift from delinquency to political radicalization and then to clandestinity, comes back to his mind.