Frits Egters can't quite get a hold of himself. An intelligent and sensitive young man, repulsion and desillusion turned him cynical. According to Frits there should be more to life - he just doesn't know where to find it.
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.
In this film version of the Dutch-language classic ('heimat'-)novel by Flemish author Felix Timmermans, the title character is a city-boy from Lier who after recovering from a life-threatening disease changes his life completely and his name to the self-invented Pallieter. He moves in with Charlote, a naive, caring relative in the country, where he starts frolicking, no longer caring for image, career or possessions, but concentrates on enjoying life -such as a draftee relative's Brueghelian wedding- and finds love with Marieke. A dark story-line however is when projected work on the river in the name of economical progress threatens the rural landscape they have fallen in love with...
Burgler and master safe-cracker Glimmie is asked to find a young woman called Fanny by her rich stepfather Van Borsen. However, Glimmie remains suspicious of the man and decides that Fanny has to be protected by him and his pal 'De Bonk'. He is soon proved correct and winds up a scapegoat in Van Borsen's scheme. After his release from prison, Glimmie plans his revenge with some help from a young cleaning girl called Slofje.
