›› Beauty - Skoonheid ‹‹ a film by Oliver Hermanus. 2011 | 99 mins | South Africa. a hauntingly dark portrait of sexual desire. Dave says: Prior to directing such acclaimed films as Moffie and Living, here co-writer and director Oliver Hermanus delivered an achingly real depiction of a man who refuses to accept his homosexuality, not on account of the ingrained homophobia of the period; rather that and despite his body saying otherwise, in his mind - he's straight! For fifty-something François (Deon Lotz) is that man; a devoted husband to his loving wife Elena (Michelle Scott), the proud father to two daughters and a successful businessman who owns his own timber company. Yet for all that, his ordered life in Bloemfontein is set to rapidly spiral out of control upon an encounter at a family wedding with twenty-three-year-old Christian (Charlie Keegan); namely a student in the final year of his law degree. Inviting Christian to dinner the next day, François quickly becomes infatuated with this handsome young man to the point of obsession, but at what cost will his unrestrained lust have for both man and boy? Co-written with Didier Costet, here we find Hermanus vividly detail the mindset of an acutely closeted gay man whose dreams of leaving his heterosexual façade behind, have forever collided with the reality of living in a land of outright racial and sexual prejudice. Knowing that, François is to the world every inch the dutiful family man. Only scratch away at the exterior of the heterosexual mask he wears and below you'll find a burly individual with a hidden rage within him, all but locked in a marriage whose words of love are not matched by any physical affection on his part, leaving what moments of sexual contact he has courtesy of the company of other like-minded and here think married men into acts of man-sex, provided the company are not effeminate or coloured. Yet in having established the two sides of the principal character early on, Hermanus delights in letting the central story unfold with François' longing for Christian alarmingly building up to a shocking conclusion, as François takes to stalking his prey, that of an innocent young man falling for the charms of François' daughter Anika (Roeline Daneel), all but blind to the intense sexual yearning of her father. It's a role that Lotz plays to a narrative tee, being brutally realistic in his portrayal of an unsystematic character whose predatory lust for straight man-flesh should have had bells ringing. It's a performance nicely countered by Keegan who with Tom Daley looks about him fills the screen with subtle eye movements and body language, as with each awkward conversation with François he comes to regret having ever met his potential father-in-law. Only and for all of the many positives of this work that include solid acting and production values throughout, together with Jamie Ramsay's exquisite cinematography that wonderfully captures the beauty of the lush landscape of South Africa, this nonetheless remains a film devoid of a shred of moral judgement, a decision that will almost surely be met with strong reactions given the graphic nature of the closing act. It's also a feature that perhaps is a little too slow for some and certainly one that could have done with the odd nip 'n' tuck here and there, let alone an answer to the characters and a key one in particular, who suddenly vanish into the celluloid void never to be seen again, leaving a series of assumptions in their wake. Complete with numerous observational sequences purposely devoid of spoken dialogue, including the telling opening scene, the result is a film that marked South Africa's official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 84th Academy Awards in 2012. Yet its selection was not without controversy, not for being a gay film; rather for the fact that the question of 'just how did he get away with it?' will stay with you long after the end credits have rolled. All of which makes for a hauntingly dark portrait of sexual desire, as seen through François' sexually repressed, if voyeuristic eyes. Quote: "You never know what these moffies think; they get away with a lot." ›› available as part of the PECCADILLO PICTURES catalogue: 8th October, 2012 / UK. ›› revised: Saturday, 8th June, 2024. Gay Visibility - overt | Nudity - explicit gay porn / bare-arsed cheek | Overall - file under ... 3+ stars ›› copyright © 2024 David Hall - www.gaycelluloid.com ‹‹ ›› archive reference #527 - revised ‹‹ donations are the lifeblood of Gay Celluloid; every drop helps keep it online - thank you :)