The directorial debut of French actor Daniel Auteuil, who also assumes one of the film's main roles, is an adaptation of a novel by Marcel Pagnol that was first adapted for cinema by Pagnol himself in 1940. At the beginning of the First World War in rural Provence, 18-year-old Patricia (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey), daughter of well-digger Pascal Amoretti (Daniel Auteuil), falls pregnant to Jacques (Nicolas Duvauchelle), the son of wealthy local businessman Mr Mazel (Jean-Pierre Darroussin). But when Jacques is called up as a fighter pilot and goes off to war not knowing that Patricia is pregnant, the well digger's daughter finds herself in a difficult predicament.