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So much average

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Socialism and the social-democracy originate from Europe, where the industrial revolution began. It became the ideology of the workers, who were cruelly exploited and suppressed by the capitalists. The social problem created political controversies. It all started with the textile production, which was concentrated in England and Belgium. In the beginning the new capitalist system was pretty disgusting. Often the situation of the industrial workers worsened in comparison with the preceding feudalism. The film Daens narrates this not very nice episode of our history for the Belgian case. At the time Belgium was still under the influence of the catholic church. The Pope had proclaimed the encyclical letter Rerum Novarum, which stressed the rights of the workers. However, the capitalists were not impressed. And since eventually the church follows the money (for someone has to pay the bills), there was little real improvement for the workers. Daens is a priest, who sides with them. The capitalists don't like this, and exert pressure on the church. Spoiler! Daens is expelled from priesthood, and continues as a politician. Fortunately decency still exists. The film is based on a book by Louis Paul Boon (Opus magnum: De kapellekensbaan). Boon has a surrealistic and dejected style of writing, which focuses on the human shortcomings. This is noticeable in the film plot, so prepare yourself for some degenerate behavior, rapes, children freezing to death or being crushed by weaving-looms etcetera. However Boon never creates a sensation, and mentions these disasters more or less in passing (which makes it so surrealistic). In fact the heroic Daens is a bit atypical, and may be a deviation from Boons book (which I have not read). If you believe that the history of capitalism is a success story, than this film will surprise you. If you like persiflages, this film will please you. If you are interested in history, this film will educate you. What more can I say? By the way, you will find many similar films in my list of reviews. Take for instance "Subterra", or more timely "Norma Rae". There may well be many recent South-American films about the same theme. If so, tell me. Oh, and don't forget to check off the "useful: yes" ballot. I love comments.

This is the best Belgian film I've ever seen. And since I am Belgian, I've seen a lot of them. Antje De Boeck is such a wonderful actress and Jan Declair is absolutely our best actor. You could recently see him in "De zaak Alzheimer" as Ledda. The story is as realistic as possible, but luckily there is that little romance to bring happiness in the rather depressing story. To understand the full beauty of the movie you should have to understand Dutch, or even both French and Dutch (as most Flemish people do (=inhabitants of the northern half of Belgium)), because even the accents have been adapted to the right time span. Just a note to the Flemish: (Ik zal het in het Engels moeten doen, want deze site accepteert niet veel in het Nederlands) If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should do it right away! You can learn more from it than from all history classes at school! Because in my opinion, history is still about people, not about facts.

"Daens" is a film about a priest, Adolf Daens, in Flanders in the 19th century. He feels pity for the workers, the terrible conditions they have to work and live in. The work they do in the factories is dangerous and their salaries low.Daens tries to help the workers but the mighty director of the factory and the church officials try to stop him. With an alliance of socialists, liberals and Roman catholics, Daens succeeds in becoming elected for the Belgian parliament. He continues his fight against the injustice in Flanders but the pressure on him accumulates...

Poverty amongst the workers of Belgium during the late 19th Century. Along comes a radical Priest, Adolf Daens, to bring a glimmer of hope and humanity into their souls. A powerful film which could have done with more time in revealing the magnitude of this character.