A young Québec journalist, Claude, is troubled by the society he lives in and cannot decide whether to undertake the enormous task of trying to change it or to simply compromise and live within its limits. Barbara, his English-Canadian girlfriend from Jewish Montréal, is too concerned with her career in the theatre to worry about social problems and identity. After much soul-searching and conflicts with his editors, Claude leaves Montréal for the country to meditate and, in this retreat to an older, rural Québec, finds his ties to Barbara slowly loosening. With the passing of time, their love slowly dies.