Algeria, 1960. War has been raging for six years and it will take two more years before Algeria – in French hands since 1830 – gains independence following a referendum settled by General De Gaulle.
Lieutenant Roque, a Frenchman, is in command of an isolated post of thirty soldiers in the south-eastern region of Algeria. All the men have been drafted; among them are four young Muslims – French of North African origin as was said back then. Caporal Taïeb acts an interpreter for Roque.
The post’s mission is to assure the security and control of a neighboring village and its environs, and the displaced, unemployed men and women, teenagers, and children living there. Everyone is tired of this interminable war and eager to lead normal lives again. Roque sometimes manages to gain people’s trust, even if many are no doubt secretly partisans of the FLN (National Liberation Front) and Algerian independence.
Neither war nor peace will stop Roque from seeing his mission through. Then, all of a sudden, everything goes awry…