Thursday, May 30, 2013

Movie Rental Review - Disgrace

This was a phenomenal novel that I really very much enjoyed some years back. As a makeshift student of South Africa, this novel really gives a strong outlook on post-apartheid South Africa.

So, when I heard that they had made a movie out of it, my curiosity was piqued. Last night, I finally got the opportunity to watch it.

I had been urging it with my girlfriend for a while now. Every time we discussed the possibility of watching a movie at night, that one came up. Yet, it never happened.

Then, when I suggested it last night, she finally nodded her head. 

"Really?"

"Yeah." she said, nonchalantly.

Now, she really has one odd trait about her in regards to movies: there are some that it seems that everyone else has seen, that she has not seen. I introduced her to Forrest Gump and Shawshank Redemption. She was really impressed with those two movies.

Not so much this one, though. The thing is, it is an odd movie, and is very specific in many respects to the circumstances unique to South Africa. If you do not follow the history and the current political climate, you really might miss the significance and symbolism, much like another movie about South Africa that is very different in it's own way - District 9. If you do not get the symbolism in the movie, than it might seem like pointless violence, and like a strangely depressing movie.

She asked me to turn it off about three quarters of an hour into it, because of violence to animals. I do not want to go into it more than that, if you choose to watch the movie. But be warned: there is deliberate violence against animals in this one, so prepare yourself. There is also violence on different levels to people, as well.

Of course, I honored her request and shut it off. I was a little disappointed, but not really surprised. This movie is disturbing, and if you are not aware of what the larger points are, it is going to seem...well, really creepy. No wonder she could feel no hesitation simply to turn it off, although it was different for me. After all, my curiosity about the movie was stronger, simply because of my having read the novel (which really is phenomenal, by the way - and even at the risk of sounding cliche, much better than the movie). 

So, I finished watching it yesterday, when alone in the apartment for some time. 

Let me say this straight out: this may feel like a strange movie. It is a subtle movie on some levels, yet explosive in it's own way. There are episodes of extreme and disturbing, graphic violence within it, although this is probably necessary for an accurate representation of modern day South Africa. This is not a feel good movie, and it is not one that you should approach with a light heart. So don't cook up the popcorn and tasty beverages and expect a nice movie night. 

This film is meant to be thought provoking, and it definitely achieves this (again, if you're paying attention to subtleties, and particularly if you have a good working knowledge of South African history. It is also very complicated, juggling a lot of themes all at once.

Now, let me say this: it probably does get as close to the novel as it would be possible to do. But that said, this is a very difficult novel to interpret by film. There is a lot of psychology, a lot of suspicions and fears. the movie went quite a ways, actually, towards being accurate to the book.

Still, I would recommend the book, if you have time, and appreciate the thinking behind it.

***Spoiler Alert***

This story is representative of the history of South Africa itself, on so many levels. You have the older white gentleman, Professor Lurie, a respected professor of poetry at a Cape Town university. He lives a comfortable life, and enjoys many of the finer things. All that he loves represents white culture, and he looks towards Europe in his taste in music, arts, and lifestyle.

Ultimately, he takes advantage of a young girl, probably younger than his own daughter, Lucie. This girl is what would be considered in South Africa "coloured" (this does not have the same meaning in South Africa as it does in the United States, meaning simply mixed race).

Lurie is guilty, and held up before a panel of inquiry that judges him harshly, yet he seems not to understand what he is guilty of. he admits that he has done what they say, but seems completely untroubled by it, seeming to shrug it off with ease, much to the alarm of the other staff members. Ultimately, he loses his position.

Seemingly down and out, and feeling a bit threatened by the short tempered boyfriend of the girl he has taken advantage of, he needs an escape, and finds one by visiting his daughter in a very rural part of South Africa. He is nervous for her, since she is a single woman living alone in a dangerous country. They have disagreements about it, but she seems determined to continue living her life in the same manner. She does not want to live in fear, but acceptance.

The now ex-professor needs something to do with his time, so he volunteers at the local vet, taking care particularly of the dogs. Many of the dogs are guard dogs, and he feels a certain level of protection (and perhaps tradition?) in their presence. Yet, these dogs are being euthanized regularly, which also seems highly symbolic.

At some point, he and his daughter are talking and approaching their home by foot, when they find three teenage black boys waiting for them. It seems strange, and before long, it is clear that they have set something up. They gang rape Lucie, and beat Lurie unconscious. He is almost killed in a vicious way, reminiscent of the "necklacing" that horrified much of the world in the eighties.

It turns out that one of those who attacked her is related to her former servant, who is slowly but surely taking over the farm and building for himself and his family a life on the property. Both father and daughter worry that she might have obtained a disease from the incident.

Lurie now is adamant that Lucie needs more protection. He urges her away from this farm, or at least to get guns and a higher gate (although this is not entirely the answer). There is tremendous friction between them, and Lurie ultimately decides that he needs to leave, so he goes back to Cape Town.

But once back there, he quickly understands that his old life is no longer available to him there. His past crimes have prevented the possibility that he will return to teaching at the university, and there are few other options for him. He does go to the family of the girl that he took advantage of to ask forgiveness, but this turns out disastrously. The family itself seem to be religious freaks, and the father seems to believe that Lurie needs to accept God before he can truly be forgiven.

He leaves Cape Town, and goes back to the small village where Lucie lives. He finds the same situation, which is absolutely unacceptable, and then finds out another horrifying truth: his daughter, while apparently not infected by any STD's, nonetheless is pregnant. Moreover, she is having the child, and continues to live life unaltered from before the horrific day of the rape.

Lucie is upset, because the friction that had gone away in her father's absence returns immediately along with her father. So Lurie needs to leave, and he decides to stay in the village, but to get his own place, and build a new life in the new South Africa.

The acting is solid all around, although the pace is slow. You have to have patience and, again, an understanding of history, to really get all that you are supposed to get out of this movie. I cannot stress enough that this is not a feel good movie.

Again, this is a powerful story, but the novel is better than the movie (not surprisingly). That said, although the movie itself is hardly pretty (in fact, it's downright ugly), it is a revealing and troubling look at the new South Africa and the problems that it faces in the post-apartheid period. With that understanding in mind, I would recommend this movie, although don't say I didn't warn you that it is disturbing!

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