Mademoiselle (Jeanne Moreau: Jules et Jim) is the local school teacher of a small French village which has recently been terrorized by clandestine acts of arson; several farms have been torched and the townspeople are quick to accuse the Italian , Manou (Ettore Manni), who has been seducing the wives and works in the forest cutting down trees. Admired by all, but sexually repressed and obsessed with Manou, Mademoiselle is in fact the one who is responsible. Subsequent catastrophes are no accident and express her mad passion for him. But how far will she go…