La Belgique martyre

1919 Drama 69 minutes Directed by Charles Tutelier

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About La Belgique martyre

A young Flemish peasant’s father is at the Yser. German soldiers execute his mother. His grandfather is sent to an internment camp. He joins the Belgian army to answer his mother’s death. Charles Tutelier wrote and directed the silent film, and he appears in it.

Cast & crew

More about La Belgique martyre

Nadia d’Angely, Rose Deny, Fernand Liesse, Émile Mylo, Plangère, and Abel Sovet are billed. Wikidata times it at 69 minutes. An Internet Archive identifier is silent-la-belgique-martyre.

Themes

  • A mother executed by soldiers
  • A grandfather sent to a camp
  • A boy who enlists
  • Flanders
  • Yser
  • occupation
  • Belgian army
  • Charles Tutelier

Background

The story is set in occupied Belgium, with the father already on the Yser front.

Making

Tutelier staged a Flemish family broken by occupation and ended the reel on the boy in uniform.

Preservation

A copy is on the Internet Archive.

Notes

  • The front in the story is the Yser, the Belgian line in the war.
  • Tutelier is both the director and a player.
  • The boy’s answer to the execution is enlistment, not a courtroom.
  • The archive file uses the French title.

Scenes

  • Soldiers execute the mother.
  • The grandfather is taken to a camp.
  • The son joins the Belgian army.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (silent-la-belgique-martyre)