Lors de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Saul, sergent britannique stationné en France, et Belle, une jeune Française, s'éprennent l'un de l'autre, mais elle est accusée de collaborer avec l'ennemi par la Résistance qui la condamne à mort. Saul met tout en œuvre pour sauver celle qu'il aime.
Following the break-up of his marriage caused by his wife's affair with another man named Bullen (Mune), "Smith" (Neill) arranges to live on the Coromandel peninsula on an island owned by a Maori tribe. Meanwhile, political tensions escalate as an oil embargo leaves the country in an energy crisis. Tensions boil over into a civil war and guerrilla activity. However, Smith enjoys his peaceful island life and has little interaction with the rest of society and his dog which was given to him by a friend.