I had always thought Floris had returned from the crusades, but when I recently re-watched the show, I found he had traveled the seas with the Portuguese. Anyways, when he returned, he found himself involved in a clash between the duke of Burgundy and Guelders, aka the good guys vs. the bad guys. The bad guys had taken his castle, and it takes more than one season to get it back. Fortunately, Floris is not alone, as he is accompanied by Sindala (or 'Sindelaar', as I heard it as a child), a fakir from India, adept in alchemy, magic and medicine.
Like Floris, I rode a horse, and with my friends, a galloped through the streets, making the 'hooperdehooperdehoop' sounds that real television horses made. And, like Floris, I dreamed of having a castle, and whenever I discovered how a real castle looks like, with diagonally painted shutters, thick walls and, of course, a secret tunnel, I updated my plans of the great castle, to be realized in our garden. My parents must have appreciated my lack of initiative back then, as I don't think a medieval castle, with secret tunnel and everything, in our backyard would have been a good fit.
I will never forget the day that the mistress of our kindergarten came to tell me something bad had happened: she dropped a vase of flowers over my shield, and although it was going to dry, for now it looked like a wet rag. Imagine, for a moment, you are Floris, ready to fight in an important tournament? And then you have to resign because the motherfucking mistress of kindergarten "De Speeldoos" spoils a vase with water over your shield? I admit, the word 'motherfucking' hadn't enriched the Dutch language yet, but you get the idea.
What still fascinates me is how I still remember certain scenes of the show, while I have forgotten most of the story. I do remember a man stretched on the rack, being interrogated by someone pointing a finger saying "Where is the seal", a scary devil in a bottle screaming "Alruin!", a knight concealing his identity by painting his shield, Sindala's alchemy lab and his clever use of a soaked rag as suction cup. I will leave the analysis to a licensed psychiatrist, but I definitely suspect that my early interest in science and magic stems from Floris.
3 comments:
I remember a man who gets tied to the blade of a windmill (I presume by Floris, but it could also be Floris) and then the windmill is put in motion and the man goes round and round until he tell them what they want to know..
Another scary scene I remember is about people gathering dead bodies wearing bird beak masks (now I know it's to protect them from the plague) and I think Floris hits them on the head with a very old and hard French baguette. It's very effective, they pass out.
That's about all I can remember and I watched all episodes. Memory is a weird thing.
Both scenes are from episode "De Vrijbrief". There were a good four men tied to the blades of the windmill, and it was a punishment, instead of interrogation. To refresh your memory, you can watch all episodes on youtube nowadays.
I make a habit not to rewatch anything I liked. It rarely lives up to the good memories.
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