A long shadow falling across the gray streets of Paris glides out of the prison gate with heavy steps. When Victor returns to the city after serving his sentence for past crimes, he tries to understand what the years have taken from him and what they have left behind. In this gritty drama, Jean Grémillon captures the darkest recesses of the human soul on film. The brief peace he feels upon reuniting with his daughter is immediately shattered by the harsh reality of the streets. Young Lise has been unwittingly drawn into a crime from which there is no turning back. That familiar feeling gnawing at Victor—jealousy—combines this time with his paternal instinct to ignite the fuse of a new catastrophe. The characters’ sense of entrapment draws the viewer into this gloomy atmosphere as well.