Moullet explores the causes and consequences of cases of mental disorders that were especially numerous in the Southern Alps.
A bicycle race is held every year in a pass of the Alps called Parpaillon. With the energy of a skillful cyclist perhaps as a great tribute to François, the mailman played by Tati in The Big Day, Moullet makes a comedy by pedaling at a pace that allows him to reinvent the possibilities of film gags. La Cabale des oursins is a guided tour to the northern France, transformed into a Geography lesson in the pataphysical style of an Alfred Jarry disciple.
Guy, film critic of the Cahiers du Cinéma and terminal cinephile, plans to write about the Vittorio Cottafavi retrospective at the Alcazar, his local cinema. One day he notices that Jeanne, film critic of Postif, the rival magazine, seems to be following him. He is intrigued-- is she interested in him, or planning to poach his praise for Cottafavi in her own article?
Sylvain Berg, a "professional" unemployed who spends his time hiking and mountain climbing, and "model" bank employee Benoît Constant, who has just been fired and does not want his wife to find out, both find themselves in Françoise Duru's office at an employment agency. Françoise is secretly in love with Sylvain, so in order to keep him close she convinces her employer to give Sylvain a job he doesn't want, instead of Benoit who not only wants it but also has the right qualifications.