Family holidays in the mountains. Eliane, a young nine-year old girl is as free as a bird in a cage. She tries to escape the authoritarianism of her mother who exerces on her and her other children an evil authoritarianism. Half-deaf, Eliane uses her handicap to protect herself from the adults who surround her. Despite the injures and traum, she is confronted by her own emprisonment and seeks liberty in big spaces.