Since time immemorial, the simple-minded boisterous people of Malava, a small Polish town near the border of imperial Russia, have lived on horse-stealing, horse-trading and horse-smuggling. Life changes abruptly when a Russian garrison, commanded by Captain Stoloff, occupies the town and, in the name of the Czar, requisitions all the horses for the Russian-Japanese War. With no more horses to steal, Kifke cannot afford to marry Estusha and all the young men in the village are likely to be incorporated into the Russian army. This state of affairs cannot continue and Zavill will take care of things.

It takes place in a chic milieu, where both the father and the son are in love with the au pair girl (but she sleeps with the dad). The young student is far from the post May 68 clichés and the movie walks a fine line off the beaten path. Philippe Lemaire and Emmanuelle Riva are ideally cast as the bourgeois parents who urge their offspring to attend the grandma's Christmas meal.

A rebellious student embarks on an affair with the mother of his best friend, leading to disastrous consequences.