Andr ?Demester leaves his farm in northern France to become a soldier in a far off land. On his last night of freedom he witnesses Barbe, his childhood friend and secret love, sleeping with another man. A twist of fate puts the two men side by side in combat where their undeclared personal war and the one they are fighting tragically merge. Left behind, Barbe, alone and wasting away, faces misfortunes of her own, while awaiting the soldiers return.