The Flax Yard (1983)

Directed by: Jan Gruyaert | 90 minutes | drama | Actors: Vic Moeremans, Rene Van Sambeek, Marc Peeters, Dirk Celis, Daan Hugaert, Dries Wieme, Carlos van Lanckere, Jos Geens, Max Schnur, Ben Simons, Jos Kennis, Rik Bravenboer, Gil Lefever

The hard everyday life of the common man, that’s what the Flemish naturalist writer Stijn Streuvels liked to write about. Take his 1907 novel ‘De Vlaraagd’, about the generational conflict between farmer Vermeulen and his son Louis. The farmer is an old-fashioned man who lives frugally and strictly and expects the same from the people around him. He rules his yard with a heavy hand. There is no room for frivolities in his life, much to the frustration of his son, who has just reached an age when he notices the world around him and gets involved in the goings on on the farm. In addition, there is a cute young milkmaid on the farm who he has a crush on. His father shouldn’t know about that nonsense. Women only distract from work and with such a girl of humble origins it will never work. But times are changing and Louis wants to assert himself. The farmer feels so cornered that he makes strange jumps.

Director Jan Gruyaert filmed Streuvels’ classic novel in 1983. Vic Moeremans is perfectly cast as the frustrated patriarch Vermeulen. René van Sambeek portrays son Louis and the great Dora van der Groen takes over as mother Vermeulen, who tries to keep the good peace between the two ruffs. Rural life at the beginning of the twentieth century played an important role. Gruyaert captures nature very nicely in his camera, but the images of insects and plants are sometimes fired at the viewer somewhat randomly. They add nothing to the really meager story. The sketch of the atmosphere of the hard-working, traditional Flemish rural population who is involved in a bitter battle with nature and who thinks they can win it thanks to a rock-solid belief in God is very striking. Boer Vermeulen is such a typical product of his time and environment: arch-conservative, stiff and proud, but also naive and otherworldly. Gruyaert contrasts this with Louis’s hesitating infatuation and the voluptuous milkmaid Schellebelle (Gusta Gerritsen). They cautiously approach each other. Holding hands, making love under the table. It all remains very innocent, almost prude, but even that apparently goes too far for farmer Vermeulen.

It’s a shame that you don’t realize until the end how deep the generation gap between father and son is. For the first hour, the film drags on and there are few dramatic highlights to be discovered. It is only at the end, when the conflict is nearing its climax, that the film gains some tension. However, most viewers will already have dropped out by then. ‘The flax bard’ suffers from a lack of compelling drama. A dull love story and a half-finished generational conflict are not enough to involve the viewer in the story. As an atmosphere sketch, this film is very nice, with its beautifully shot, documentary depiction of life on a traditional flax yard. As a feature film, however, ‘De Vlaraagd’ lacks a thorough and appealing story. Even though Van der Groen and Moeremans play excellent roles, unfortunately even they do not know how to give the story sufficient ‘body’.