This is the story of a man who travels to Brussels, and meets some people with whom he spends a few days. When they all go on a day trip to the "slanting plane" of Ronquieres, all sorts of bottled up frustrations flare up.
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...
The audience witnesses Jeroom's (played by Jacques Dufhilo) holiday adventures on the Spanish Costa Brava which are reminiscent of burlesque, silent movies and the slapstick world of Jacques Tati.
