1962: events in Algeria. Captain Sainbenin has just taken over the leadership of a newly created fighter commando. His relationship with the hierarchy is strained. To this war of a new type, Sainbenin intends to apply methods of a new kind. Everything is good to find the "rebels": new intelligence system, new interrogation system. When in Algiers a putsch is organized against De Gaulle by 4 of his generals, Sainbenin's men are divided: should they remain faithful to De Gaulle, or take the side of French Algeria against all odds? tragic fate of a handful of uprooted people fighting for a patriotic ideal and sacrificed in the name of this ideal.

An African travels to Paris to learn about the construction of tall buildings, but is soon taken up with the oddities of French life.