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 (the Dutch language has adopted this as a noun for a "bon vivant"). 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.