 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.