De bossen van Vlaanderen (1991)

The Dutch title means "The woods of Flanders", referring to the rustic setting of this costume drama about the complex context of a number of murders in 19th century Belgium before, during and after the German occupation in World War I. As journalist Constant Reynaert -an outcast as 'flamingant', political opponent of the monopoly of French as official language while the Flemish majority is Dutch- is determined to bring into the open, the grim plot ties in to the dirty secrets of that period's arrogant, de facto virtually omnipotent francophone elite in this eastern part of the constitutional kingdom - the dictatorial mayor, chevalier de Bellicourt, the maritally frustrated baron de Halleux, their families (including the mayor's bastard Cesar Priem, made the town's feared cop)... who prove very good in covering it all up, even manipulating a judicial inquiry.