In German occupied France of 1943, an elderly sculptor and his wife live in a small town close to the Spanish border. Several years have passed since the 80 year old artist Marc Cros (Jean Rochfort) stopped sculpting. He has lived through two wars and is disillusioned by the world around him. One day his wife (Claudia Cardinale) brings home a young woman she sees in the streets. Her name is Merce (Aida Folch) and she is on the run from Franco's army. The couple offer to shelter her in the sculptor's workshop. While she is there, she models for what will be the last work by Cros. Slowly, a beautiful friendship is born between the young woman, whose life is just beginning, and the old man, who senses that his end is near. In French.