Thieves of the Wood

Production on a decent level when it comes to actors costumes scenery. Plot overall good however seems stretched at some points especially beginning. When it comes to bandits themselves they seem to be the most boring Ive ever seen. I cannot recall a single joke from this series but maybe that's just the way flemish are, that I dont know :D

Asa fan of the old Flemish Masters, I couldn't miss Jan de Licht's exploits on Netflix. I binge watched it in two days, and I was hungry for more when it finished. It's a beautifully lensed period piece about bandits in Flandres, set in 18th century, duing the Austrian succession wars. The mini series opens en force, it has one of the best openings scenes, whose build up will remind many of the viewers of Tarantino. The casting is so spot on - many fresh faces for me, or maybe I'm not so well versed in European actors, but many of them with a pictural quality - hence many of the shots brought to mind paintings of sitters or Flemish portraits, you ve got to love those red-headed ladies, but also the men, great casting overall; but not only that, but the acting is very good, believable, which adds on to the already well fleshed out characters. Maybe the fact that the film is based on a novel helped, as many of the lines in the show are quote-worthy. It's a show about les nouveau riches, the new blood, about the bourgeoisie, about banditry and outlaws, but with relevance for today. It's a very contemporary show in tone - and aesthetics, although it pays homage to Pays Bas painting, it's very modern in terms of camera, those hand held's in the forrest, that I first saw in Black Death, are surprisingly fresh in a period piece about bandits and nobles. It can be read as a story from rags to riches, but with enough Belgian grit for the connaisseurs to enjoy. It's filthy and beautiful at the same time. The language is Flemish and it's beautiful, its mixture of Dutch and German and French, sounds so exotic to me. Watch it in original, with English or French subs.

Jan de Lichte was a war veteran who turned bandit in mid-18th century Flanders (not 17th century like other reviewers point out). His story has been published several times before and this series marks the first modern and dedicated screenadaptation.

Acting is surprisingly solid and consistent. The production values are great. There are lots of details to make everything believable and the set pieces are truly beautiful at times,even though the forest scenes lack atmosphere, but that's inherent to the fact they are.. Well, forests. And de Lichte, like Robin Hood, operated mainly from the woods.

The series does a good job portraying 18th century society, during the last decades we came to know as the ancien regime. De Lichte's antagonist is a baljuw (bailiff) who battles against both the bandits and the moral decay in, and corruption amongst, the powers in charge of the area: the lower nobility, the mayor of a small town and the clergy.

Although the story seems to suffer from slowdowns in its pace and the cinematography is too bland and grey for my taste, this is truly one of the best series to come from the low countries in quite some time.

Defenitely worth the watch!

I first must say I watched this in the original language and subtitled. That precludes me from catching a lot of the subtext that only understanding the spoke dialect gives one. That aside: The production levels on this series is high. The weapons master - got it RIGHT. The costumes, and, I am no expert, seem to be RIGHT. Everyone who isn't the higher ups, are appropriately dirtier as you go down the social scale, but it seems to be in place. The set dressers, got it RIGHT. So, why bad reviews? Maybe because it wasn't action by the second, but, characters are developed, plot lines merge and separate. I enjoy these foreign productions,I am watching it on Netflix, who I am told have production facilities world wide and bring content we would not usually see. Worth while entertainment.

I really liked the storyline and the character development. It makes you question if it really was like that in 17th century Belgium.