In April 1939, "Grapes of Wrath" entered the pantheon of literature with a bang. Americans are at loggerheads over the odyssey of the Joad family, tenant farmers from Oklahoma who, like thousands of others, were driven from their land during the Great Depression. Eighty years have passed since the famous work was published, and 90 years since the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. To mark this occasion, the documentary examines the genesis of the novel, its themes, its renewed reception during the financial crisis of 2008.

En 1939, Vivien Leigh, una joven inglesa completamente desconocida, acaba de conseguir el papel más codiciado de la época: interpretará a Escarlata O'Hara en "Lo que el viento se llevó", que le dará fama mundial y el Oscar a mejor actriz.