Elias, the son of wealthy farmers, grew up in the Zillertal valley at the end of the 1960s. Sickened, in every sense of the word, by the role he is forced to assume by his parents and by society, he renounces the pursuit of profit and retreats to a secluded alpine pasture. There, he leads a solitary, contented life in harmony with nature and animals. Forty years later, a serious illness forces him to return to civilisation.