As a WW1 buff I'm always excited to see the Great War featured on the screen. The historical accuracy of the costumes, weapons, props and the general atmosphere of the fighting of In Vlaamse Velden were much to my liking. However, the series is a bit lacking in emotional depth. The many characters of the series don't really develop much emotionally throughout the 10 episodes, and never really emotionally 'attached' themselves to me. Overall the cast seems like a sterile bunch. The one moment that typifies the series' lack of emotional realism was the part where the Boesmans' most gung-ho son enlists in the Belgian army and shoots a fellow Belgian soldier in a friendly fire incident on his first patrol. He doesn't seem horrified or shocked at all at what happened; he just sort of goes "gosh darnit, I should not have done that" and seemingly forgets about it 10 minutes later. The overarching theme of Flemish oppression and nascent nationalism is also not given the proper nuanced treatment that it deserves, in my opinion, although political issues such as these will always offend some viewers no matter how they're portrayed.
Although this series was long in the making and had great potential as a testament to the period now known as the First World War, it is tragically flawed due to lack of emotional depth and development of its characters, and its simplistic portrayal of political themes and events.
Although this series was long in the making and had great potential as a testament to the period now known as the First World War, it is tragically flawed due to lack of emotional depth and development of its characters, and its simplistic portrayal of political themes and events.