September 1940. Henri Marre, a 49-year-old engineer—bankrupt and far from his family—arrives alone in Vichy just as the new authoritarian regime is taking hold. He carries a self-published manifesto, *Notre Salut*, in his suitcase and is convinced that a place in the new administration belongs to him. He claims he wants to save France in the wake of its defeat, becoming increasingly adept at serving the machinery of the new regime. Perhaps, in reality, he is simply trying to escape his own bankruptcy.