Disgrace

Aroview: Thorny drama based on J.M. Coetzee's Booker Prize-winning novel stars John Malkovich as a disgraced college professor who retreats to his daughter's farm only to see his amorality challenged by personal violation and unseamly truths about his homeland.

Not called "Disgrace" for nothing, the film preserves the unforgiving tone of the novel, which picks at what would appear to be the quietly seething open wound that is post-apartheid South Africa. Hence the book was highly controversial in its native land, and the film will divide audiences too, for its take on patriarchy, sexuality and race relations make not for a comfortable watch. Malkovich presents detachment like no other actor, but he is arguably too eccentric for the role, and his patented rage and indignation remain frustratingly bottled up. While the inflammatory, complex material ultimately demands a surer directorial hand, it surely serves the author's will to be a lightning rod for furious feminist and ethno-political debate.

NZ International Film Festival 2009

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