In pre-WWII Holland, the penniless, illegitimate son of a powerful bailiff sets out to become a lawyer as he spends a lifetime struggling to prove his worth to his relentlessly spiteful father.
The story of a summer dress and those who have to do with it, especially the train conductor (played by van Warmerdam, the director). The dress functions as catalyst for the whimsical events, which turns out to be either tragic or hilarious.
At the end of WWII the Dutch resistance kills a German officer in front of the house of a Dutch family. Years after the war the young boy who witnessed the killing runs into the members of the resistance who committed the killing.
The story of the murder of Dutch comedian Jean-Louis Pisuisse and his wife, by the hands of jealous singer Tjakko Kuiper. Based on Gerben Hellinga's play, and performed by the Publiekstheater.
De Mantel der Liefde is a bizarre, over the top and at times hilarious settling of scores with the Catholic Church, commercial movie culture and 1970's petit bourgeois Dutch culture in general.
An idealistic Dutch colonial officer posted to Indonesia in the 19th century is cohvinced that he can make the kinds of changes that will actually help the local people he is in charge of, but circumstances soon make him realize just how out of touch he really is, and it doesn't take long for things to go from bad to worse.
The film features a dystopian near-future world which has been split into three. The Third World are the owners of all of the world's resources and are now able to hold the United States and Europe to ransom.