The son of a sailor, who seduced and abandoned the mother, doesn't get along with the new man, a clockmaker, the woman weds. He turns to delinquent behavior and smuggling and leaves on a ship, just like his father.
Sylvie lives with her two children whom she’s raising on her own. One evening, there’s an accident, and her youngest son is removed from her care. Sylvie must subsequently fight to get her son back and to keep herself afloat.
Psychological drama of the compelling relationship between a young French engineer and the girl he takes into his home after his wife has left him with their baby son.