His married life, spent in the shadow of a domineering mother-in-law, turns into an unbearable dead end for Mathias as his safe havens at home crumble one by one. Directed by Marcel L'Herbier, this silent film follows a man shaken by a series of blows dealt by fate, leading him all the way to the casinos of Monte Carlo. Returning with his newly acquired fortune, he stumbles upon his own obituary in his hometown, and a nameless body dumped in the river offers him a brand-new identity. This fragile freedom, severed entirely from old ties, is an attempt to build a new life amidst the ghosts of the past.