Bruno is released from prison. He looks for a job and tries to start a new life. His first stop is at his father's apartment.

A Paris police detective plays rough with a prostitute and her pimp/lover, whom he wants as an informant.

Slim Ben Fredj is a young man selling postcards to tourists in Kairouan. Frustrated and suffering in his wretched and miserable home, he spends most of his time wandering near hotels that are inaccessible to him and gazing at gorgeous women he will never be able to have.