Toerless (Matthieu Carriere) attends school at an early 20th Century Austrian military boarding school. He is distracted from the school's attempts to educate and train the young boys by the brutality of a few select students. As the school bullies terrorize and humiliate a fellow student, Toerless simply watches from afar, uneasy about speaking out. His attitude differs little from the cold, unaffected teaching staff.