Skoonheid (Afrikaans/English) [Beauty]

When the film started, it felt different; good different. I had the same feeling for almost half point of the movie, despite the fact that the movie was paced very very slow. Each scene lingered 10-15 seconds longer than necessary. Sometimes less is more, and certainly in this case I felt that throughout the film. Had it been better edited, it could have built the tension more effectively in a decent 60-minute film.

Francois is a 40-something man living a unhappy married life. He sees Christian, a close friend's son, at his daughter's wedding and gets totally obsessed with him. We soon realize that Francois is a closet homosexual case. In a very small community of people, who belongs to a very very small group os closet gays who meet once in a while to fulfill their desires. Francois tries to control his obsession as much as he can but he finally gives up. He travels to Cape Town from his village to do something about this, hoping that Christian will have the same feelings for him but his dream is soon to be broken. He sees Christian with his daughter having a good time and it breaks his heart. His inner evil self soon takes over his mind and he starts plotting which ultimately ends up with Christian giving a lift to Francois and to his hotel. Christian needs some money for his business and he asks his 'uncle' Francois for it but Francois has something else in mind. He brutally rapes the young man in his hotel room when Christian refuses to kiss him. When he comes back home, he continues with life as if nothing had happened. The movie ends with Francois withdrawing money from bank (possibly to give it to Christian) and just envying a gay couple in Cape Town.

I was surprised when the film abruptly ended. There was no resolution to the whole rape episode, no punish meant for him, no idea of how Francois felt about it!! Was he remorseful, happy, sad or just didn't bother. We don't know what happens to Christian either. The film is paced very slow so that we can absorb the characters and try to imagine what is going in their head. This is good for a short film or for sometime but after a while it becomes too much to handle. The realism of the movie is uncomfortable at times. Francois acted really really well and yes, Christian was definitely very very good looking. As a gay man, I can see myself getting attracted towards him. He is totally engaging and lights up the screen in every single scene of his.

An interesting film that started fantastic but ultimately ended up a frustrating experience. (4.5/10)