The year is 1815. Jacquou, a young peasant from the Périgord in southwestern France lives happily with his parents. By the actions of a cruel and arrogant nobleman, the Count of Nansac, he is orphaned and lives in abject poverty. Vowing to take revenge, Jacquou grows up and develops under the protection of the good priest Bonal, who takes him in. Thanks to faithful friends and the patient and radiant young Lina, in a few years' time he will become a determined, handsome young man. He will learn to transform his desire for vengeance into a fight against injustice, and prove that even a simple peasant can rise above his lot.