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Daens

Play trailer Poster for Daens Released Feb 23, 1992 2h 14m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 2 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
In this biopic, Catholic priest Adolf Daens (Jan Decleir) arrives in the small Belgian village of Aaist in the 1890s and is appalled by widespread economic and sexual exploitation of the women and children working in the textile factories. After his newspaper editorials condemning the town's labor conditions anger both the factory bosses and his church superiors, Daens founds the Christian Democrats, a new alternative to Socialist agitation, to fight for worker's rights.

Critics Reviews

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Quentin Curtis Independent on Sunday Daens restores our prejudices about Belgian cinema: it's long, worthy, and a bit dull. Nov 28, 2017 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Blegium's Oscar nominee is a worthy historical drama about the involvement of priests in the labor movement. Rated: B Jul 1, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Number one movie form Belgian. A painful history Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Well-intentioned biographical drama is slick but empty. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member A gripping story about politics, religion, poverty, corruption, greed and society. The directing is just outstanding, you really get into the movie, you feel real hate, compassion, understanding,.. and allot more due to Stijn Coninx's fantastic directing job. And the movie has Jan Declair's best performance, i might even call it one of the best performances ever! It was really amazing. Definitely one of the best Belgian movies ever !! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Seeing as I grew up and live in the area of Aalst, I'm a bit biased...but even so the movie is a masterpiece with some great acting and filming. For the people who don't know anything about father Adolf Daens or Belgian history it might be a good idea to get some background info first before you watch the movie. The movie actually has 2 main characters, one being Daens (Jan Decleir) as the historical figure and than Nette (Antje de Boeck) as a portrait of how people lived life in those times. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member For me definetely one of the best Belgian movies. Stong performances from the cast. An historical relevant and interesting picture. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Du cinéma belge comme on en voudrait plus : fort, bien interprété, engagé sans pour autant négliger un certain sens du lyrisme Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Daens

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Cast & Crew

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Stijn Coninx

Director

Jan Decleir

Priester Daens

Gérard Desarthe

Charles Woeste

Antje de Boeck

Nette Scholliers

Michael Pas

Jan De Meeter

Johan Leysen

Schmitt
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Daens

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this biopic, Catholic priest Adolf Daens (Jan Decleir) arrives in the small Belgian village of Aaist in the 1890s and is appalled by widespread economic and sexual exploitation of the women and children working in the textile factories. After his newspaper editorials condemning the town's labor conditions anger both the factory bosses and his church superiors, Daens founds the Christian Democrats, a new alternative to Socialist agitation, to fight for worker's rights.
Director
Stijn Coninx
Producer
Hans Pos
Screenwriter
Francoise Chevallier, Louis Paul Boon, Stijn Coninx
Production Co
Films Dérives, Favourite Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Dutch
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 23, 1992, Wide
Runtime
2h 14m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR