The Common Man

Georges Lajoie runs a cafe on Place d'Aligre in Paris and the Lajoie family prepares their annual summer retreat to the Provençal coast. They travel with a new caravan to spend the season at the campsite run by Loulou. The trip sets the stage for a summer of sun, new acquaintances, and underlying tensions.

The family arrives at Camping-Caravaning Beau-soleil and settles in among a mix of fellow campers. They meet the Colins, the Schumachers, and the Vigorellis, along with Algerian workers living nearby. The camp atmosphere blends hospitality with simmering social frictions.

Northern campers spout stereotypes about the South, yet some still seek friendships with the Vigorellis and the immigrant workers. Vigorelli acknowledges the workers’ hard labor and even speaks Arabic with them, signaling uneasy cross-cultural ties. Social lines at the camp begin to reveal themselves.

Georges becomes strongly attracted to Brigitte, the Colins’ daughter, and his infatuation shows in the beach encounters and forced glances. On the sand, Brigitte jokes about sunscreen as he contorts with a red face. The tension hints at a dangerous obsession developing beneath the surface.

Brigitte seems destined for Léon, and their budding flirtation adds to the camp’s complex web of relationships. Georges’s presence looms over the dynamic, creating a triangle of desire and rivalry. The social scene at the camp becomes increasingly charged.

At a camp dance, Georges violently attacks an Algerian worker who dances too close to Brigitte. The altercation draws the police, and the Algerian workers are arrested while Georges escapes scrutiny. The incident highlights the camp’s racial and social tensions.

During the Inter-camping games, Brigitte is seen in a sunlit moment with Georges in a quiet corner; he insists on his advances despite her refusals. He rapes her and, after realizing what he has done, carries her body toward the Algerian workers’ barracks. The night ends in tragedy and long shadows over the camp.

Chief Inspector Boulard opens an investigation at the campsite, gathering statements and evidence from the discovery site. The medical examiner notes that the body was moved, and interrogations are scheduled for the next day. Tensions rise as authorities begin to map out what happened.

A vigilante group attacks the Algerians in their barracks, leaving one Algerian seriously injured. His brother defends himself and is killed, while two other workers escape. The violence deepens the community’s fractures and the stakes of the investigation.

A senior civil servant from Paris pressures Boulard to close the case with a dismissal, warning that his promotion could be jeopardized if he continues. Boulard refuses, risking his career to pursue the truth and confront the higher authorities’ agenda.

Boulard summons the campers; Colin confesses to the beating, while others protest. Despite the confession, the murderous campers are exonerated due to pressure from higher authorities, and Brigitte's murder is officially blamed on the dead Algerian. Boulard leaves the scene with visible disgust at the miscarriage of justice.

The community is divided by the outcome; some celebrate the closure, while others feel uneasy and guilt. Léon abandons his parents amid the tension, and Loulou formally asks Lajoie not to return to the campsite. The vacation ends with strained bonds and unresolved anger.

Back in his brasserie, Lajoie tells locals a boastful tale of punishing the Algerians, a lie born of vanity. A man whose brother was killed bursts in, pulls a sawed-off shotgun, and shoots Lajoie, shattering his deception and ending the saga with a violent finale.