In this compelling tale about human greed set in 1920s Provence, a local farmer (Yves Montand) and his son (Daniel Auteuil) covet the property adjoining theirs for its valuable freshwater spring. The two men concoct a plan to block the spring and conceal its location, in hopes that the land will be ruined by drought and that the unsuspecting owner (Gerard Depardieu) will sell it to them cheap. But their selfish act may come back to haunt them.