Unemployed music teacher Clement Mathieu becomes the supervisor at a boarding school for the rehabilitation of troubled boys. Dismayed by the repressive administration, he works to positively transform the students' lives. With passion and unconventional teaching methods he is able to spark the students' interest in music and bring them a newfound joy...but this also puts him at odds with the school's overbearing headmaster, placing him in a battle between politics and the determination to change his pupils' lives.