Het Teken van het Beest (1980)
Genre: Drama / History
Duration: 88 minuten
Country:
Netherlands
Directed by: Pieter Verhoeff
Stars: Gerard Thoolen, Marja Kok and Peter Faber
IMDb score:
6,5 (171)
Releasedate: 25 September 1980
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Het Teken van het Beest plot
1920s. The free-spirited Frisian clog maker IJje Wijkstra (Gerard Thoolen) has an affair with the wife of one of his friends (who is currently in prison). When she leaves her children behind to move in with him, things get out of hand... Film based on events in 1929 in Grootegast.
Actors and actresses
IJje Wijkstra
Aaltje Botter
Dirk Tabak
Dominee
Doting
Van der Koren
Botter
Reviews & comments
gotti
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- 14086 messages
- 5922 votes
Somewhat boring and slow, but the film still has its moments. Verhoeff's best so far...
Translated from Dutch · View original
Robi
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- 2553 messages
- 2541 votes
This film was a major production by Dutch standards in 1980. The true story that actually happened is certainly worth making into a good film. But boy, was this the best they could do in 1980? What a wooden production. The dullness radiates from all sides and the cast is incomprehensible.
However, even more incomprehensible is that I read on the cover of the DVD that this film has won two golden calves. 1 for best film and 1 for Marja Kok as best actress. So those aren't even the lowest prices. Marja Kok best actress!!! Actress is already a big word for her performance in this movie!
1980 must have been a very poor year in the Dutch film world.
Were Monique van de Ven and Willeke van Ammelrooy free that year?
Translated from Dutch · View original
starbright boy (moderator films)
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- 22536 messages
- 5186 votes
An example of how things can be done differently, compared to The Heineken Kidnapping earlier this month. This film isn't perfect, but it is much better because a number of things were done well. To start with, this film does stop on time. You could have filmed the arrest and trial and perhaps even the prison sentence, but the film stops at the murders. The fact that the film isn't in Frisian is a shame. Verhoeff probably thought so himself, as he did make films in Frisian later on, but fortunately we don't get any half-hearted attempts with vague, mediocre accents. Furthermore, I thought the atmosphere was well captured and the voice-over, as far as I know, was in the spirit of Wijkstra. Thoolen and Kok were strong. It seems that Verhoeff fought for the unknown Thoolen. The producer had wanted Rutger Hauer. The relationship between Wijkstra and anarchism, philosophy, and his environment is also well done. Although it could have been just a degree deeper.
I know Wijkstra's story from a book that provides material for literally dozens more Dutch films: *Moordenaarswerk* by Hans van Straaten. That book was published in the early 1960s, received an edited reprint around 1990, and contains very strongly written short descriptions of murder cases from the 19th century to the 1960s. This case is one of them. But the book, which I have literally read to pieces—I am still looking for an affordable new copy—is full of stories that are as beautiful as they are gruesome.
The Mark of the Beast was the first film to win the Golden Calf for Best Picture at the first Netherlands Film Festival. That was in 1981. Despite this, the film is somewhat forgotten. Apart from regional success in the Northern Netherlands, it was not a major hit. Unfortunately, the DVD, like many DVDs of Dutch films, has not been restored, which causes the film to have a green tint and appear much too dark on the disc. But I fear that this film is not an immediate priority to address this.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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