anne-ties-jos-blom

Dutch film has - to a high degree - been a matter of the urban - western - part of the Netherlands. 'Het teken van het beest' (literally 'The sign of the beast') instead has its focus on a drama in the northern provinces. It is the sort of drama unknown to the world, forgotten in the collective memory but for those that live in its region. As in most Dutch films the budget is minuscule, the actors are mostly stage-trained and there is a certain 'roughness' in the proceedings. However the leading actors are convincing enough, the settings look historically right and the region itself was quite proud to be taken into account for once. Verdict: pretty average but well made