What an astonishing, sophisticated, insightful movie this is. Superbly written, superbly acted, it's a film that explores with devastating detail one man's experience of the closet and sexual obsession.
For Francois van Heerden, the closet was a comfortable place of control and secrecy. The problems started arising when he became obsessed with Christian, his friend's much younger, sublimely beautiful son.
Yes, there have been movies about the closet before, but it's still a story worth telling, especially when it's told in this way with such finesse. It's a shame that the real people out there leading desperate, overly controlled lives like Francois will probably never see films like this. In the end, the closet is a desperate horrible place, despite what Francois will tell you.
The climax of this movie is an act of brutal rape. Yes, sexual violence occurs in the gay community as well. However, I didn't come away from this movie thinking the director was conflating the closet with sexual violence, or even Afrikaner culture with excessive violence. This is just an account of one man's obsession and act of rape. It's an interesting twist that the man just happens to be a closeted Afrikaner.
The movie has a very strong sense of place. To watch this movie is to spend two hours exploring the soul and landscape of modern Afrikaner South Africa. However, at the same time, the movie is quite universal in the themes it explores. This is a hallmark of a fine movie: fascinatingly local and yet telling universal truths.
The realism of the movie is striking. This is a movie that shines a laser-like spotlight on an ordinary man, his psychological constructs, and the people hurt by him because of this.
The pace of the movie was deliberately slow. At times, we focus on the minutiae of this man's life. This slow-pace technique forces the viewer to wonder what the character was doing and thinking. At times this style worked so well for me that I was shaken (eg the scene near the end when Francois is looking at the happy gay couple). I would dearly love to have known what he was thinking at this point. I desperately wanted this man to see the light, to experience a little redemption. And of course to face justice. But Hermanus and Lotz don't help us with this. In the end we are alone in this inner struggle, as is Francois.
There were other times, however, when I found the slow pace, well, a little on the overly slow side. Particularly, the scene where he checked into the hotel. This was the part of the film that worked for me the least.
If you enjoy movies with this theme, don't miss this one. It is under-rated on IMDb.com.
For Francois van Heerden, the closet was a comfortable place of control and secrecy. The problems started arising when he became obsessed with Christian, his friend's much younger, sublimely beautiful son.
Yes, there have been movies about the closet before, but it's still a story worth telling, especially when it's told in this way with such finesse. It's a shame that the real people out there leading desperate, overly controlled lives like Francois will probably never see films like this. In the end, the closet is a desperate horrible place, despite what Francois will tell you.
The climax of this movie is an act of brutal rape. Yes, sexual violence occurs in the gay community as well. However, I didn't come away from this movie thinking the director was conflating the closet with sexual violence, or even Afrikaner culture with excessive violence. This is just an account of one man's obsession and act of rape. It's an interesting twist that the man just happens to be a closeted Afrikaner.
The movie has a very strong sense of place. To watch this movie is to spend two hours exploring the soul and landscape of modern Afrikaner South Africa. However, at the same time, the movie is quite universal in the themes it explores. This is a hallmark of a fine movie: fascinatingly local and yet telling universal truths.
The realism of the movie is striking. This is a movie that shines a laser-like spotlight on an ordinary man, his psychological constructs, and the people hurt by him because of this.
The pace of the movie was deliberately slow. At times, we focus on the minutiae of this man's life. This slow-pace technique forces the viewer to wonder what the character was doing and thinking. At times this style worked so well for me that I was shaken (eg the scene near the end when Francois is looking at the happy gay couple). I would dearly love to have known what he was thinking at this point. I desperately wanted this man to see the light, to experience a little redemption. And of course to face justice. But Hermanus and Lotz don't help us with this. In the end we are alone in this inner struggle, as is Francois.
There were other times, however, when I found the slow pace, well, a little on the overly slow side. Particularly, the scene where he checked into the hotel. This was the part of the film that worked for me the least.
If you enjoy movies with this theme, don't miss this one. It is under-rated on IMDb.com.