Madame de Montespan, the Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XIV, has been in disgrace since the King set eyes on a younger beauty, Marie-Angélique Scorailles. Having had enough of the situation, the rejected mistress decides to visit La Voisin, a woman known as a fortune teller, a doctor, a midwife and who is also said to arrange black masses and sell poisons. Some time later Marie-Angélique, now Duchess of Fontanges, dies mysteriously aged only twenty...

Kohlman, the attorney for the Fournil bank, diverts money from the institution. To hide his malpractices, he imagines to remove the director, the young and overconfident Clement Fournil, during a cruise at sea on the yacht Emile Frechisse.

Henri, the Man from Nantes, comes back to his country after a successful stay in the United States, where he was working for Liski, the drug dealer. With the fame of being a tough guy preceding him, he sets himself to the task of knowing why the French operations were not so profitable - and soon he is master of all links of the organization. He can now get it honed to perfection - or destroy it. Only... the Police are following his every step.

On the banks of the Rhône, not far from Tain l'Hermitage, Alcide Garonne, an old ferryman - and incidentally a poacher - lives out of wedlock with Victorine Rousset nicknamed Maryse, a colorful tramp. When Garrone's son, Pilou, a worker, falls in love with Augusta, the mayor's daughter, the unconventional old couple tries to protect the unconventional young pair from the disapproval of self righteous villagers.

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.