Three men from a failing Berber village in the Atlas Mountains find work in a Casablanca restaurant. Head Waiter Said dutifully sends money back to wife Aicha who is raising their son and new baby. Kitchen worker Ottman remembers riding his horse as a child with the Berber leaders. He sends back bread scraps to keep his horse from being slaughtered for meat. Waiter Ismail longs for a pair of black boots that costs 3 months' wages. The dream of each man turns sour as the film moves from light drama to disallusionment, humiliation and tragedy.