Daniel Lefebvre (Phillipe Torreton) works as the principal of an infant school in the poverty stricken region of Hernaing. His attempts to serve his pupils are thwarted by the incompetence & laziness of the local authorities. He becomes involved with the struggle of a local family to escape from the squalor & depression of the area. However, all his efforts seem in vain, & his wife Valéria (Maria Pitarresi) grows resentful of his reluctance to have another child.