Young Antonello, a painter's apprentice, is fond of his teacher, who has always treated him with kindness. After a surprise meeting with an unusually accomplished painting, both men realize that artists in far-away Flanders have developed a revolutionary new technique. Gripped by a burning desire to pierce the secret behind the new technique, the teacher leaves his native Italy in order to undertake the perilous journey north. Antonello too travels to Bruges, as the protégé of a rich and willful young girl...
"Le Secret des Flamands" is a historical series resulting from a cooperation between various European countries. One of the countries was my native Belgium. This explains the beautiful images of cities such as Bruges and Ghent. (Many people call Bruges the Venice of the north, but here in Belgium we tend to think of Venice as the Bruges of the south.) The plot, which offers up a mix of romance, intrigue and murder, is set in a time period when the Flemish Primitives were the envy of the world. A number of the characters are based on real-life people, such as the celebrated painter Petrus Christus.
A recurrent theme is the way in which transcendent beauty can translate into money and thence into crime. Here, the development of a new painting technique gives rise to a variety of evils such as industrial espionage, murder, seduction and state-sanctioned violence.
The series was quite popular in its time. Even nowadays it's got its charms, such as a sweet medieval ballad theme and a luminous Isabelle Adjani, in one of her first roles. Moreover, the various creators of the series did not treat their intended audience as if it were composed of knuckle-dragging yahoos. We, the public, are supposed to possess at least some knowledge of art and history ; we are also supposed to possess a healthy attention span and an ability to read between the lines. Or, to put it another way, we're being treated like civilized adults.
Still worth a watch, although the plot is somewhat too dependent on lucky coincidences.
"Le Secret des Flamands" is a historical series resulting from a cooperation between various European countries. One of the countries was my native Belgium. This explains the beautiful images of cities such as Bruges and Ghent. (Many people call Bruges the Venice of the north, but here in Belgium we tend to think of Venice as the Bruges of the south.) The plot, which offers up a mix of romance, intrigue and murder, is set in a time period when the Flemish Primitives were the envy of the world. A number of the characters are based on real-life people, such as the celebrated painter Petrus Christus.
A recurrent theme is the way in which transcendent beauty can translate into money and thence into crime. Here, the development of a new painting technique gives rise to a variety of evils such as industrial espionage, murder, seduction and state-sanctioned violence.
The series was quite popular in its time. Even nowadays it's got its charms, such as a sweet medieval ballad theme and a luminous Isabelle Adjani, in one of her first roles. Moreover, the various creators of the series did not treat their intended audience as if it were composed of knuckle-dragging yahoos. We, the public, are supposed to possess at least some knowledge of art and history ; we are also supposed to possess a healthy attention span and an ability to read between the lines. Or, to put it another way, we're being treated like civilized adults.
Still worth a watch, although the plot is somewhat too dependent on lucky coincidences.
