To pass the time a young Jewish girl hidden in a French farm during the Nazi occupation pins on his diary everything he sees and passes them by the head. It thus records the restlessness of a troubled region in which hunters perform massacres for play, disfigures the landscape and boredom envelops the inhabitants. But it turns out that in this village of the Sologne a farmer holds in captivity a monster Half man half beast nicknamed Ampélopède that breaks every balance and arouses fear and curiosity. A doctor begins to take care of him and tries to find a companion among the women of the country. Ampélopède has a relationship with a mother girl who spends her time in melancholy walks in the woods. A mestizo child will be born from the union.