Mark of the Beast (1981) Reviews

In the late 1920s a lower-class bricklayer and part-time accordion player became a kind of pariah in the small Dutch town where he lived because of his anarchic views and his inner upheaval in trying to reconcile his beliefs to his actions. He falls in love with a married woman (Marja Kok), and they eventually consummate their relationship when the husband is thrown in jail. The anarchist asks the woman to move in with him as his housekeeper, and she does so, sending her six children to the poorhouse. This act inflames the town's authorities, and legal orders are written up for her to return to her home and take care of her children. When she refuses to do so, four policemen arrive to bring her out by force, and that is when the anarchist decides to take matters into his own hands. The woman of this story was still alive when this film was released; she saw it, and testified that it was an accurate account of what had happened then. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi