A Dog of Flanders

A Dog of Flanders is a 1999 film directed by Kevin Brodie and starring Jack Warden, Jeremy James Kissner, Jesse James, Jon Voight, Cheryl Ladd, Steven Hartley, and Bruce McGill. The screenplay was written by Brodie and Robert Singer, based on the 1872 novel of the same name by Ouida. The film was shot on location in Belgium, but ironically not in Antwerp where the story supposedly takes place. It was the fifth film based on the original novel. Plot Impoverished and alone, fine artist Mary Daas (Deborah Pollitt) braves a blizzard with her toddler son, Nello, to reach the remote forest home of her father Jehaan Daas (Jack Warden). The journey has brought Mary close to death. Mary asks Jehaan to promise to care for Nello after she is gone. Jehaan keeps the promise, helping his grandson to become an intelligent and sensitive young man. As the two live a very poor existence, Nello (Jesse James) and Jehaan make ends meet delivering milk to the nearby city of Antwerp, where they are welcomed and respected by the community. One afternoon on their way home, they encounter a Bouvier des Flandres dog beaten and left for dead in the woods. Taking him home, Jehaan and Nello nurse the dog back to health, with Nello naming him Patrasche; the boy and his new friend are inseparable thereon. With Jehaan's guidance, Nello hones his skill as an artist with Patrasche as his subject; his artwork comes to closely resemble that of his mother. Nello soon introduces Patrasche to his lifelong companion and artistic muse Aloise (Madylin Sweeten), daughter of the local mill owner Nicholas Cogez (Steven Hartley). Meanwhile, Nello and Jehaan struggle to appease their wicked, heartless landlord Stephens (Andrew Bicknell). Nello gains a mentor when he meets artist Michel La Grande (Jon Voight) by the statue of Peter Paul Rubens outside the Cathedral of Our Lady. After defending the boy against Patrasche's vagrant first owner, Michel brings him into his study and begins his tutelage, though he leaves for business in Rome soon afterward.