Jules Hamel

Two former lovers find themselves struggling for shared closure as one of them prepares to stage a play about the unspeakable tragedy that tore them apart decades ago.

After her mother -- a prostitute -- is murdered by her father, Sien is raised by her grandparents. Instead of a bourgeois life with grocer's son Gerrit van Buren, she chooses for an adventurous life with toutman Jan Meier. She follows him and becomes a revue artist in an Amsterdam cabaret, until her father comes to see her...

Dutch prostitutes Greta and Nel cruise the Amsterdam red light district, seeking clients to involve in their elaborately staged fetish fantasies, be it disciplinarian headmistresses, surgeons cutting open a willing patient, or even dressing up as chickens, the duo show their expertise in role-playing again and again and again. In reality, Nel is trapped in an abusive marriage and Greta is forever in the middle of their confrontations but her life takes a positive upturn when she becomes involved with a client.

The story takes place in 14th-century Flanders, a region suffering under the oppressive and bloody occupation of the French King, Philip the Fair. Tensions between the arrogant French nobility and the proud Flemish guilds reach a boiling point. Following the bloody uprising known as the Bruges Matins, an armed conflict becomes inevitable.Without their imprisoned leader, Robert of Bethune—the "Lion of Flanders"—craftsmen, peasants, and local nobles unite. This leads to the legendary Battle of the Golden Spurs on July 11, 1302, near Kortrijk, where an untrained Flemish citizen army faces the elite French cavalry.

A border guard faces a crisis of conscience when he learns that an old comrade is smuggling butter across the border.

Crippled as a young girl, Sabine vows to become a nun if cured. But when it turns out the original diagnosis was faulty and she regains the use of her legs, she decides to marry instead. Wreaked with guild when her first child is stillborn, Sabine enters a monastery where her sister Gertrude also resides. But after her sister dies of an illness, Sabine leaves the nuns behind and travels to India seeking peace.