1945. Albert Clavier is part of a contingent of French soldiers sent to Indochina. Shocked by the atrocities committed by the military on the local population, he decides to desert the army and join the ranks of the Vietminh. Refusing to fight his compatriots, he will nevertheless participate in many tasks for the communist revolution. Considered a coward and a traitor to his country, condemned by the French courts, Albert Clavier spent all his life defending the idea that humanism is more important than patriotism.