In the small Dutch village of Lagerheide, two members of the local brass band get into a fight, forcing the band to be split in two. The two hotheads and their followers are doing their utmost to sabotage each other’s attempts at becoming the band who will represent the village at the upcoming brass band competition.

Worried about the ‘declining morals’ of 1950s Amsterdam, taxi driver Piet Amstel decides to emigrate to Australia. The government drive to build atomic shelters and the incessant Dutch rain only strengthen his purpose, as Amstel figures sunny Australia would make a positive change for his family. But first he needs to bring his daughter and her criminal boyfriend back on the right path.

Comedian Wim Sonneveld wants to quit his most beloved character, organ grinder Willem Parel. Parel, however, has his own opinion on the subject and decides to save himself from his creator. After leaving the dressing room poster, Parel sets out into the Netherlands to start a organ grinders revolt.

An independent-thinking doctor in a rural community with his own ideas of how medicine should be practiced begins to find himself ostracized from the community after one of his patients commits suicide.