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Michael (David Warner) is an independent businessman and a happily married man with two children. Traveling to the market one day, he is victimized by a nobleman who demands compensation for crossing his land. Michael leaves two horses and a caretaker on the noble's land after he has paid for passage. He returns for the horses when he discovers that the landowner has no legal right to demand the compensation. Michael discovers his caretaker has been beaten and the horses are near death. A court rules he must take back the horses in their pitiful condition, and he refuses to accept the verdict. His wife Elisabeth (Anna Karina) is killed by a stampede, pushing Michael over the edge. He succumbs to a life of crime, when he torches the nobleman's castle, but the evil count escapes. Michael becomes a hero as people join the cause in rebelling against the unpopular judgment, but he really only wishes to take back his horses and have the nobleman held accountable for his actions. He tracks the nobleman to another town and his rebel army kills the soldiers protecting the cowardly count. A rapist is hung for his crimes, and Michael agrees to turn himself in when officials promise his case will be heard again in this brutal tale of political crimes and reprisals of the common man.