A lawyer defends his childhood friend accused of killing his wife.

Newly transferred to the bustling port city of Marseille to assist with a crackdown on organized crime, energetic young magistrate Pierre Michel is given a rapid-fire tutorial on the ins and outs of an out-of-control drug trade. Pierre's wildly ambitious mission is to take on the French Connection, a highly organized operation that controls the city's underground heroin economy and is overseen by the notorious —and reputedly untouchable— Gaetan Zampa. Fearless, determined and willing to go the distance, Pierre plunges into an underworld world of insane danger and ruthless criminals.

Séléna is chief of the Marseille police. Respected and feared by his men, his sole enemy seems to be himself, along with his 300 pounds. Strangled by the bursting straight-jacket of his body, tortured by his past, he leads a solitary life in a large isolated house. Séléna is the only person who knows that Elsa was guilty of the murder of her uncle, a wealthy shipowner. Fascinated by the young woman’s beauty, he offers her a strange deal: in exchange for his silence, he demands that she dines with him every night for a year.