When I first watched "In Vlaamse Velden", I was a bit curious what the creators would do. It has been 100 years since WW1 and naturally, it would be time to commemorate it. The channel "één" wanted to make a series about WW1 in Belgium, since it had a major role in the war. What I wanted to see in this show, was if they could do that particular piece of history justice and that this would become a good show. But since the first episode, everything after that became more and more disappointing.
The series focuses on the Boesman Family. Phillipe Boesman, the pater familias, is a Flemish gynecologist. He has a wife, Virginie, two sons, Guillaume and Vincent and one daughter, Marie. When the war breaks out, his sons are summoned to their duty and have to go the front. The series focuses on these five characters, everyone on a different field of the war.
One of the major problems was that every episode feels dense. There happened a lot in one episode and I had the feeling that I watched a recap episode. It is clear that the makers had a lot of material, but did not get enough episodes to spread it out. Which is unfortunate, as the characters, the setting and the history don't get time enough to develop enough since it wants to do every aspect of the war (the trenches, the deserters, the situation in the cities,...). Everything feels rushed. It loses any impact if a side character dies, because we don't get time to know them better.
For example, a sub-plot became victim to this problem. In this scene, Marie was running away from the Germans and stayed at a farm in the Netherlands. The scene begins when she discovers she's pregnant and doesn't want to keep the baby. Later in the episode, she uses a primitive form of abortion with a red-hot piece of iron wire. This subplot wasn't spread out over a couple episodes, but was over in the span of 20 or 30 minutes. It was a very heavy scene but nobody mentions it anymore in the series nor does it have any impact on the show or the character. It was quickly discarded and was never spoken of.
Even the famous parts of WWI fall victim. I was looking forward to the Christmas-bit, where the soldiers celebrate Christmas with the enemy. The scene started, but ended in five minutes after that and isn't mentioned again, which is a real shame. Sometimes it is laughable how quickly it goes. Shell shock is not shown but it and its symptoms are read out by Phillipe in an article he's reading. Again, a real shame, because that was one of the interesting parts of the war that they should have shown.
Another problem is if the show doesn't know if it wants to be a family drama, set in WWI or a historical fiction. Sometimes it feels like we are given a history lesson due to the fact that the major characters encounter famous historic landmarks from the war like the opening of the sluices in order to flood the land so that the Germans are halted from marching further. But some of the historic parts aren't given any context like why the trenches were build or why the sluices where opened, or why the war started in the first place. On a side note, the scene with the sluices felt like the land was flooded in one day, while it took a couple of days in real life.
However, it was not all disappointment galore. The setting was accurately represented, the clothing felt right and sometimes the director managed to shoot something really well. The aforementioned Christmas-scene, short as it was, was perhaps the best shot scene of the series. The soldiers peeping over the trenches, cautiously going to the enemy while walking over ice where dead soldiers were underneath it with their faces frozen in horror,... it was beautifully shot and was unfortunately over in five minutes. Another example is where Phillipe is walking in a corridor of a university when he is appointed as a teacher. He walks proudly next to a row of busts of scientists while he is rehearsing his college. This scene shows where his ambitions lay, using only the visuals.
Overall, I'd say that if there were more episodes, the creators could have had enough time to flesh things out, it would have been a great show. But as it is, situations come and go and don't have that many impact. A pity it's a missed opportunity.
The series focuses on the Boesman Family. Phillipe Boesman, the pater familias, is a Flemish gynecologist. He has a wife, Virginie, two sons, Guillaume and Vincent and one daughter, Marie. When the war breaks out, his sons are summoned to their duty and have to go the front. The series focuses on these five characters, everyone on a different field of the war.
One of the major problems was that every episode feels dense. There happened a lot in one episode and I had the feeling that I watched a recap episode. It is clear that the makers had a lot of material, but did not get enough episodes to spread it out. Which is unfortunate, as the characters, the setting and the history don't get time enough to develop enough since it wants to do every aspect of the war (the trenches, the deserters, the situation in the cities,...). Everything feels rushed. It loses any impact if a side character dies, because we don't get time to know them better.
For example, a sub-plot became victim to this problem. In this scene, Marie was running away from the Germans and stayed at a farm in the Netherlands. The scene begins when she discovers she's pregnant and doesn't want to keep the baby. Later in the episode, she uses a primitive form of abortion with a red-hot piece of iron wire. This subplot wasn't spread out over a couple episodes, but was over in the span of 20 or 30 minutes. It was a very heavy scene but nobody mentions it anymore in the series nor does it have any impact on the show or the character. It was quickly discarded and was never spoken of.
Even the famous parts of WWI fall victim. I was looking forward to the Christmas-bit, where the soldiers celebrate Christmas with the enemy. The scene started, but ended in five minutes after that and isn't mentioned again, which is a real shame. Sometimes it is laughable how quickly it goes. Shell shock is not shown but it and its symptoms are read out by Phillipe in an article he's reading. Again, a real shame, because that was one of the interesting parts of the war that they should have shown.
Another problem is if the show doesn't know if it wants to be a family drama, set in WWI or a historical fiction. Sometimes it feels like we are given a history lesson due to the fact that the major characters encounter famous historic landmarks from the war like the opening of the sluices in order to flood the land so that the Germans are halted from marching further. But some of the historic parts aren't given any context like why the trenches were build or why the sluices where opened, or why the war started in the first place. On a side note, the scene with the sluices felt like the land was flooded in one day, while it took a couple of days in real life.
However, it was not all disappointment galore. The setting was accurately represented, the clothing felt right and sometimes the director managed to shoot something really well. The aforementioned Christmas-scene, short as it was, was perhaps the best shot scene of the series. The soldiers peeping over the trenches, cautiously going to the enemy while walking over ice where dead soldiers were underneath it with their faces frozen in horror,... it was beautifully shot and was unfortunately over in five minutes. Another example is where Phillipe is walking in a corridor of a university when he is appointed as a teacher. He walks proudly next to a row of busts of scientists while he is rehearsing his college. This scene shows where his ambitions lay, using only the visuals.
Overall, I'd say that if there were more episodes, the creators could have had enough time to flesh things out, it would have been a great show. But as it is, situations come and go and don't have that many impact. A pity it's a missed opportunity.