De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (1985)

The Lion of Flanders’, by the renowned Flemish writer, Hugo Claus, epitomized the Flemish heritage film of the 1970s and 1980s. Its account of the Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302), in which the Flemish burghers defeated the French king is based on a 1838 novel by Hendrik Conscience, a pioneer of Dutch-language literature in 19th Century Belgium. The film, for which no effort was spared, was poorly received by the critics.