This celebrated French film explores family dynamics in a clan on the eve of World War I. Monsieur Ladmiral (Louis Ducreux) is an elderly, widowed painter who lives on a rambling estate outside Paris. During a visit from his son, Gonzague (Michel Aumont), Ladmiral hints that Gonzague is too complacent in life and wishes that his son was more like his free-spirited daughter Irene (Sabine Azéma). Ladmiral wants to be freer, too. When Irene joins them, tensions among the family members rise.