Daens

Jan Decleir stars as the real-life populist preacher Father Daens, who helped textile workers in Europe struggle for justice in the late 19th century. This is a very moving and powerful film which squarely takes on many problems which our modern industrial societies have inherited from the Industrial Revolution.

Especially heartbreaking and infuriating are the scenes which juxtapose young factory children being overworked, abused and mangled by the textile machines with rich and powerful nobles around their sumptuous dinner tables. The emotional high point of the film, for me, came when Daens gives an impromptu speech in a church, shouting out, "People scream, 'we are hungry!' Loud and clear!" It is difficult not to be emotionally caught by such a scene.

Father Daens ultimately shows in this film what Gandhi told someone: that one's religion is in one's actions, not in one's words, clothes or wealth.

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.

"Daens" is based on a novel by the famous Belgian writer Louis Paul Boon. The novel is called "Pieter Daens" but the real lead character in the novel (and the film) is his brother Adolf Daens. Adolf Daens was an enlighted priest who lived from 1839 - 1907. He supported the textile workers in his hometown Aalst (Belgium) in their struggle for higher wages and better working conditions. This brought him into conflict with the Catholic political party, who supported the employers. Deans was the founder of "Daensisme", a Christian political movement to the left in the politcal spectrum. His political activities were not to the taste of the Vatican, and Daens was obliged to choose between politics and priesthood. He chose the first. In 2015 Deans was rehabilitated by the Vatican.

"Daens" is a socially motivated film. One is inclined to compare it with the English kitchen sink movement, but that would not be entirely justified. Kitchen sink films are about laborers in the mid 20th centry, "Daens is situated at the end of the 19th century. With "Marina" (2013) director Stijn Coninx would later make a movie that is more in line with English kitchen sink.

A better comparison is with "How green was my valley" (1941, John Ford). Both films are situated in the same time frame and in both films there is an enlighted priest. "How green was my valley" contains however far more human interest and is far less openly political. The film "Daens" takes itself very seriously, but it must be said that the shocking working conditions leave very little room for humor. Only in the end, in the scene in which Jefke died, there was a poetic moment involving a circus. A moment that seems to be directly derived from a Bergman movie.

Serious or not, "Daens" is a very beautifully made film. The set pieces are very convincing. It was not by accident that "Daens" was nominaed for an Oscar for best foreign language movie. The Oscar was however won by "Indochine" (1992, Regis Wargnier). Five years later lead actor Jan Decleir played in the Dutch movie "Character" (1997, Mike van Diem) and this move did win the Oscar for best foreign langauge movie.

This is definitely the best movie ever made by a Belgian director, Stijn Coninx. Nominated for best foreign movie but alas no Oscar. During the film you will see children working on weaving machines. Children had their hands cut and young girls were brutalized or raped. Some died. This is no fiction. Coninx had to go to Poland to film where he found the exact machines still in use there which where employed 50 or 100 years ago in Belgium; on this point I'm not sure. While filming in Poland, children were still abused in long working hours,(1992)and begging for food from the crew.

In comparison to Schindler's list I gave Daens 9 points versus 1 for Schindler. I saw this movie at least 7 times. To tell you the truth I dragged all my friends to see this movie on full screen. They were all in awe, nobody complained, on each occasion we needed a brandy to recuperate :-) This is the first movie I saw men weep.

Some of us like to complain about how hard life is. Watch this film, which I think is very close to the reality of life in the late 19th century, and it will put your problems into perspective. Yes, most of the wealth is still in the hands of the happy few. We still need to fight injustice. But in comparison to what you see here, we are currently living in gods paradise. This film also reveals the politics at that time in Belgium (and the western world? ), serving the upper class helped by the church. The harsh reality is enlightened by a few very good jokes (take the ring home. Then you can kiss it as many times as you want). Everything is beautifully embodied by Belgiums finest. Very well directed. After almost 30 years it looks a tad outdated but this doesn't really spoil the party... It's not a science fiction.