September 1940: the Pétain regime is taking shape. Henri Marre, 49, arrives in Vichy penniless, with no contacts, far from his wife and children. He sees in the new administration an opportunity at last to secure the place he believes he deserves. In his suitcase is his self-published political treatise, Notre Salut, in which he champions his patriotic convictions and an engineer’s methods. His credo: "greater efficiency" to pull France out of the debacle. But perhaps Henri is above all trying to escape his own debacle…