One evening in April 1952, Marc Helluin arrived in a small village in Kabylia to work as a doctor. He is there at the call of Hamrane, an Arab war comrade with whom he made Indochina. Bored with weapons, he tries to integrate into the village and succeeds. He befriends a French couple, the Peyrots. Welcomed into Hamrane's family, he falls in love with his daughter, Malika. She goes to study with the Peyrots and gives herself to Marc: the two lovers meet in hiding with their mutual friends. In November 54 broke out the first troubles for independence. Hamrane is in fact one of the leaders of the underground FLN. Marc himself chooses to remain neutral. He tells Hamrane that he is his daughter's lover. The Muslim takes it very badly. The French army arrives at the village. Marc refuses to help them track down the FLN. One evening, the soldiers' camp is attacked, and Marc helps them defend themselves. He still doesn't want to do more, but the FLN murders the Peyrots.