the film takes a turn of style as van gasteren begins to act, playing himself as a good-timer who cheats on his wife with casual encounters. in the course of his travels he runs into an italian journalist in belgrade. the two decide to book a flight to zagreb on a lark, but are told by the travel agent, "nema aviona za zagreb" ("there is no plane to zagreb" in serbian). not knowing the language, they find the expression hilarious, and repeat it wherever they go. but later, when alone, the expression begins to haunt louis. it becomes a personal catchphrase. "what "nema" expresses is good will and a great incapacity. "nema" and life as such cannot be tied down. you are in them, yet always off the mark." what this means is never entirely clear, but what we see is that from this point forward louis becomes a sincere seeker of truth.