Emile Michel, Lapland, orphan, is obliged to bring back within the tribe the ancestral totem: a gold plumb line "borrowed" formerly by his grandfather Raymond Michel. His quest will take him aboard a floating boat that crosses Baffin Bay in the icy waters of Greenland.
A brave and talkative wine merchant, Eugène Barbentin drives his son Pierrot out of the family home, because he has given birth to his girlfriend. His wife then reveals to him that he is not Pierrot's father and she flees with her lover. Abandoned, Eugene will be saved by his mother who will...
Paul works tirelessly day and night to afford the big red car he has been dreaming of for a long time. But the sacrifices to be made to obtain it and the consequences of this obsession will be heavy for him, his wife and his daughter.