Genre: Drama
Director: Steve Jacobs
Starring: John Malkovich, Jessica Haines, Eriq Ebouaney
Running Time: 120 minutes (plus trailers)
Based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name, Disgrace is not a pleasant movie to watch. In the vein of films by Ken Loach, it is a depressing tale of people suffering incredible hardships without any real hope for change or redemption. John Malkovich stars as David Laurie, a poetry professor at a Cape Town University who is disgraced after his affair with a female student becomes public knowledge. Wanting to escape the city, he goes and stays with his daughter Lucy on her small farm, where he helps her maintain a kennel. But after a vicious attack by a local gang, both their lives are thrown into turmoil.
Aside from a few key conflicts, nothing much actually happens in this movie. There isn’t really any narrative drive or tension in the story; instead, Disgrace is more of an exploration of people and ideas. Because of this, the films success hinges almost entirely on the believability of its characters, and thankfully all the performances are excellent. Malkovich and Haines are both terrific in their roles and the strained father-daughter relationship between them is utterly convincing. Indeed, every member of the cast embodies their characters with such skill that we soon forget that we are watching actors at all (this feat is especially remarkable for Malkovich, a man with such a distinctive physical appearance and voice).
The directorial approach taken by first time Australian filmmaker Steve Jacobs is one of simple observation. With a steady and mature hand that one would attribute to a more experienced director, Jacobs has successfully captured the desolate and uninviting nature of the South African plains that reflect the films tone perfectly. Jacobs’s minimalist technique means that nothing ever separates his audience from the characters and events on screen; the editing and camerawork never draws attention to itself, functioning only to serve the story. My only complaint in terms of the production was that the picture quality was sometimes very poor (although I suspect this was due to budget constraints and shoddy cameras rather than artistic choice.)
There is a drawback to this ponderous style: the movie is slow and sometimes dull, especially in the very disjointed opening scenes. Disgrace is a film that gets better and better as we become more and more invested in its characters, and as such the early parts of the film didn’t always hold my interest. However as the story progressed I found myself being drawn in, engrossed by its mesmerising bleakness and complicated characters. Disgrace is not really a movie one enjoys – rather, one is morbidly fascinated by it. There is something compelling about the utter hopelessness that is portrayed on screen, and whilst at times it is deeply unpleasant, it is also undeniably powerful.
At the same time, I’m still not entirely convinced of the value of Disgrace. It has no use as entertainment, nor does it seem to possess any greater meaning. There is no moral to this story and the ending is neither happy nor satisfying – not that you should have expected anything else. Disgrace is two hours of wallowing in despair, and whilst it will make you think, it’s unlikely to inspire you to do anything, or have any lasting effect on your life at all. And so while by its technical merits it is a good film; well directed and scripted, with a gripping story and superb acting, I am still torn as to whether I think it’s worth seeing. A recommendation seems to imply that I think you will enjoy it, but it’s hard to imagine anyone enjoying Disgrace.
Obviously Disgrace has a very specific demographic (hint: if you even considered seeing Transformers 2, then this movie is not for you). And, quite franky, if you do fall into this movies demographic then you probably don’t care what I, a seventeen year old movie blogger who actually saw Transformers, has to say about it (come to think of it, you probably don’t even read this blog). For anyone who is reading, I leave you with these ambiguous final words: if you are the kind of person who is inclined to view this type of depressing cinema, then you will probably appreciate Disgrace. But no, you won’t enjoy it.
Disgrace is in cinemas in Australia now. It will be released internationally over the coming year.
Director: Steve Jacobs
Starring: John Malkovich, Jessica Haines, Eriq Ebouaney
Running Time: 120 minutes (plus trailers)
Based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name, Disgrace is not a pleasant movie to watch. In the vein of films by Ken Loach, it is a depressing tale of people suffering incredible hardships without any real hope for change or redemption. John Malkovich stars as David Laurie, a poetry professor at a Cape Town University who is disgraced after his affair with a female student becomes public knowledge. Wanting to escape the city, he goes and stays with his daughter Lucy on her small farm, where he helps her maintain a kennel. But after a vicious attack by a local gang, both their lives are thrown into turmoil.Aside from a few key conflicts, nothing much actually happens in this movie. There isn’t really any narrative drive or tension in the story; instead, Disgrace is more of an exploration of people and ideas. Because of this, the films success hinges almost entirely on the believability of its characters, and thankfully all the performances are excellent. Malkovich and Haines are both terrific in their roles and the strained father-daughter relationship between them is utterly convincing. Indeed, every member of the cast embodies their characters with such skill that we soon forget that we are watching actors at all (this feat is especially remarkable for Malkovich, a man with such a distinctive physical appearance and voice).
The directorial approach taken by first time Australian filmmaker Steve Jacobs is one of simple observation. With a steady and mature hand that one would attribute to a more experienced director, Jacobs has successfully captured the desolate and uninviting nature of the South African plains that reflect the films tone perfectly. Jacobs’s minimalist technique means that nothing ever separates his audience from the characters and events on screen; the editing and camerawork never draws attention to itself, functioning only to serve the story. My only complaint in terms of the production was that the picture quality was sometimes very poor (although I suspect this was due to budget constraints and shoddy cameras rather than artistic choice.)There is a drawback to this ponderous style: the movie is slow and sometimes dull, especially in the very disjointed opening scenes. Disgrace is a film that gets better and better as we become more and more invested in its characters, and as such the early parts of the film didn’t always hold my interest. However as the story progressed I found myself being drawn in, engrossed by its mesmerising bleakness and complicated characters. Disgrace is not really a movie one enjoys – rather, one is morbidly fascinated by it. There is something compelling about the utter hopelessness that is portrayed on screen, and whilst at times it is deeply unpleasant, it is also undeniably powerful.
At the same time, I’m still not entirely convinced of the value of Disgrace. It has no use as entertainment, nor does it seem to possess any greater meaning. There is no moral to this story and the ending is neither happy nor satisfying – not that you should have expected anything else. Disgrace is two hours of wallowing in despair, and whilst it will make you think, it’s unlikely to inspire you to do anything, or have any lasting effect on your life at all. And so while by its technical merits it is a good film; well directed and scripted, with a gripping story and superb acting, I am still torn as to whether I think it’s worth seeing. A recommendation seems to imply that I think you will enjoy it, but it’s hard to imagine anyone enjoying Disgrace.Obviously Disgrace has a very specific demographic (hint: if you even considered seeing Transformers 2, then this movie is not for you). And, quite franky, if you do fall into this movies demographic then you probably don’t care what I, a seventeen year old movie blogger who actually saw Transformers, has to say about it (come to think of it, you probably don’t even read this blog). For anyone who is reading, I leave you with these ambiguous final words: if you are the kind of person who is inclined to view this type of depressing cinema, then you will probably appreciate Disgrace. But no, you won’t enjoy it.
Disgrace is in cinemas in Australia now. It will be released internationally over the coming year.
