Frits and Freddy Frateur are brothers who, after a confrontation with the white collar criminal Carlo Mus, kidnap his wife, Gina. The situation for the brothers goes from bad to worse as more and more people get involved, and all want a share of the ransom money.
In the 1890s, Father Adolf Daens goes to Aalst, a textile town where child labor is rife, pay and working conditions are horrible, the poor have no vote, and the Catholic church backs the petite bourgeoisie in oppressing workers. He writes a few columns for the Catholic paper, and soon workers are listening and the powerful are in an uproar. He's expelled from the Catholic party, so he starts the Christian Democrats and is elected to Parliament. After Rome disciplines him, he must choose between two callings, as priest and as champion of workers. In subplots, a courageous young woman falls in love with a socialist and survives a shop foreman's rape; children die; prelates play billiards.
This is the real story of Frans Van Reeth, a small time crook who spent most of his life in jail. In an hour and a half we learn all about the love of his life, his inmates, his adventures in and out of prison and the way he ends up.