In a rural parish in Värmland in 1906, young Finnish immigrant Heikki lives a wild, free life in the deep forest. After he poaches, parish constable Väppling poaches his furs while the young men of the parish snigger. Heikki vows to have his revenge by seducing the parish's young women one by one. The most influential one is Lady Malm of Gullsbacka Manor, who bears a grudge against Finns in general and Heikki in particular. Her children don't share this prejudice: her daughter Ingeborg is spellbound by Heikki, and so is her son Gunnar's fiancee, schoolteacher Ellen.