In the Dolomite mountains following World War I, a string of violent poacher attacks leaves both a young forest ranger and the commanding officer dead. Barnabo, a gentle, pacifist ranger who struggles with the violent expectations of his job, manages to track the killers down. However, paralyzed by fear and his discomfort with firearms, he fails to shoot them. Disgraced and labeled a coward, he is dishonorably discharged to work as a farmhand. Years later, haunted by guilt, he returns to the peaks to confront his past and find inner peace.