Beautiful depiction of the workers' fate during the first half of the 20th century. Priests and church are supposed to play their role of keeping the workers at peace. When father Daens resists he gains such a response that the powers have to bend. True story! Went up for an Oscar but due to the fact that the French had a lot more money to support their film it fell short. Brilliant role for Jan Decleir, mostly known for his one-man plays, adaptations of Dario Fo. Proof you do not need violence or sex to make a movie exciting. What is needed is a strong story (very much so in this case) and a couple of great actors. If you have the chance to watch it, do so, it will alter your view on the world, there are not enough (nice) movies of this kind around. Again: it all happened as it is depicted here.
