Poetic feature about the last Dutch horse-drawn barge making a journey through the landscape of Holland with its mills and canals. A man is leading the horse along the tow-path. On the aft deck of the vessel is the skipper, two women in traditional dress and a man chewing tobacco. In the fo'c's'le is a young woman staring wistfully into the distance. On the roof of the cabin, a man is playing accordion. The woman at the stern talk together and sometimes they point at the sad girl. In one version of the film there is a glimpse of the young woman walking arm-in-arm with a young man while being spied upon by another woman. While the people on board are occasionally shown in close up, the landscape glides past te spectator at the gentle pace of a tow-boat.
A window of a house in the country mirrors the life of a young woman and a young man who come to take up residence there, hoping that the woman will regain her health. The two young people enjoy the sunshine and the flowers in front of the window. However, when the woman is taken ill again, the flowers make way for medicine bottles. She dies and the curtains are closed. The film ends, as it started, with a sign 'To Let' in the window.
Between documentary and fiction, "Branding" (also know as "Breakers") stars an unemployed sailor from Katwijk, a land that sparked Ivens’ interest in the movement of the big waves crashing on the rocks. Determined to film them, he faced them with his camera and the result is staggering.
Mahmud, a young fisherman is in love with Wagini, a farmer girl. The love story is situated in rice fields, mountains and naturally beautiful Indonesian scenery, lending it almost an anthropological quality. It is also presented with songs and sets of poetic quatrains.
