I Yam What I Yam...L'invenzione' is centered around the collision of two films originally shot on the same location; Emidio Greco's 'L'invenzione di Morel' (1974) and Robert Altman's 'Popeye' (1980). In Greco's film a shipwrecked man stumbles upon an ultra-modernist mansion. In it he finds a group of people trapped in a perpetual present facilitated by a machine that's capable of reproducing reality. Sant's reinvention of this film is shot on the same location, follows the same storyline, but occupies another world. In place of the mansion, he finds himself in 'Sweethaven' - the set of Altman's 'Popeye'. Though there is no trace of Greco's set, Altman's 'Sweethaven' remains - echoing Greco's plot by existing as an open-air museum where costumed entertainers re-enact scenes.

Gina hates her Valentine's Day birthday and travels to Greece to prevent her boyfriend's proposal. With help from vacationers Johnny and his sister Mickey, she schemes to delay it – while questioning her relationship.