Set within a working class milieu, the paths of many Marseille locals converge on a journey through the lives and daily struggles of a group of its inhabitants. At the center is Michele, a hard working fishmonger, who supports an entire family. Afer putting in back breaking hours, she must return home to a sullen husband and a daughter fighting a debilitating drug abuse. Michele commits to raising her baby granddaughter while her daughter battles heroin addiction. Reduced to selling her own body to pay for her daughter1s fixes, Michele meets Paul, a lonely former dockworker who now drives a gypsy cab. The heroin is provided by Michele1s former boyfriend Gerard who runs a small bar but has a secret second life. We also meet Abderamane, a young North African, recently out of prison and now looking for a way to make his mark on the world. He begins an affair with his former music teacher, Viviane, who can no longer bear the hypocrisy of her womanizing, pseudo-liberal husband.