Herman and Marie, a couple in their fifties, arrive in Istanbul to pick up the luggage of their deceased son. In his backpack. Herman discovers a logbook of their son's trip through Turkey. Herman decides to reconstruct his son's last journey, to see what he has seen. He drags along his wife into a, what he believes to be, cathartic venture.
This heimat-movie after a novel by Felix Timmermans is about the at first sight idyllic, but actually tragical life of Wortel, a peasant in a pre-war Belgian village, who has a hard time accepting the curate’s assurance it’s all part of God’s grand plan when his loved ones keep coming to harm.
Baseado em vários escritos do autor e poeta Charles Bukowski, em particular "A sereia que copulava em Veneza, Califórnia", que contém necrofilia. Foi o primeiro filme flamengo-belga a receber um lançamento teatral na América do Norte.
