Beauty (2011) User Reviews

What is this ACTUALLY about?

[bernardlinde-406-374020 · 6/10 · 25 June 2012]

As with all things in life, not all people will like the same thing, and even though I tend to go for the more provocative/controversial types of movies, this one is a true shocker.

From a cinematography, script, acting, etc. viewpoint this is not bad at all, but what does upset me, is that this is sold as a "suppressed" homosexual man in the context of conservative white Afrikaner culture. But after watching this, it is glaringly obvious that the main character is clearly a case study in severely disturbed/pathological behaviour.

Lots of people suppress their homosexuality, but how likely is it that they will resort to stalking, obsessing, and RAPE, with maybe an hint of paedophilia (Christian could have been his SON)?

And what's with the farmers orgy? I really don't want to sound naive, but as Afrikaner, this is so implausible that it is almost comical. Free State farmers, sitting around for a slap and tickle one afternoon? HUH??

We have enough problems in the Afrikaner community (especially in rural farming communities as depicted in the movie) with gay people being judged as being child molesters and godless deviants, and this movie sure as hell does not help to enlighten anyone. And to make it even worse, we are led to believe that after all the drama, everything just settles down and no word is ever spoken about it ever again?

Not exactly a movie with a social conscience.

Interesting idea, poor execution

[sjh-16 · 5/10 · 11 August 2012]

I agree largely with ottoman-umpire's comments. 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.

That would also have allowed the addition of a more satisfactory ending. When I saw it, you could almost hear every member of the audience saying to themselves "Is that it?" when the film ended - no resolution, no punishment of Francois for what he had done, no indication of what Francois was thinking/feeling as he watched the gay couple at the end, and whether he learned or grew as a result of what happened (i.e. character development). The movie didn't show him to have any redeeming qualities (in my opinion) so in the end I was hoping he would either be punished for the rape or at least come to grips with his homo- or bi-sexuality and do something positive about it.

Also, as Christian was a law student, I thought it likely he wouldn't let things rest and would either go to the police or try to blackmail Francois to get the money he wanted (he may have done, but the purpose of the money in the last scene is not stated).

All in all, an interesting but frustrating experience.

Bleak yet indulgent

[paul2001sw-1 · 5/10 · 6 April 2016]

Oliver Hermanus's 'Beauty' is a harsh film, the story of a repressed gay man in a loveless (straight) marriage prone to intermittent bouts of sexual violence. The way it is filmed is designed to echo the sense of loneliness in his life: lots of long, still shots that emphasise just how little is really going on, except for his brooding obsessions. In fact, I can't remember the last time I watched a film in which background noise is so prominent: I can see why it was shot in this way, but the on-going hum does get annoying after a while. There's only so long one wants to watch, and listen to, nothing much happening in a sawmill or cafeteria. In the end, the reductionist animal-ism of the protagonist makes it impossible to sympathise with him; indeed, his relentless calculation makes him seem chilling rather than tragic, and in consequence the film feels unpleasant rather than sad.

A man yearns for forbidden beauty only to become consumed by it and ultimately leads to abuse and self-hatred.

[hamthemanster · 7 August 2011]

I did not expect much, going into the theater, but when the sound faded up and I saw the first shot, I knew this was going to be something different. And it was.

The director builds tension that is sometimes unbearable, but each uncomfortable scene pushes you through a quiet journey of a man and his inner demon. Breathtaking. Deon Lotz's portrayal of 'Francois' is fearlessly disciplined.

It seems slow paced but Oliver Hermanus reveals details and new information in every shot, which are held exceptionally long and really made me feel a Michael Haneke influence. In the visual stillness of the film, the sound design stepped up to the challenge.

Although explicit in places, but very functional, the film is gentle and carefully told. Regardless of subject matter - this is a well made film that was treated with a lot of respect by the makers and a rare film-going experience.

A strong, clear message in a gripping story

[FrederickTroy · 7/10 · 1 January 2015]

It's a slow burner but all the more satisfying for that. I like to get to the crux of a movie and here it is all about self denial. A closet homosexual who lives his life in complete denial of his sexual self. The scene where the men get together to indulge in an orgy but specify that no homosexuals are allowed makes the point without any preamble. The tension surrounds the main character's desire for a straight young man, you can feel his lust build and build and you know that is going to lead him to do something terrible and it does. The aftermath is very realistic, almost anti climatic but so many rape cases are not reported (especially male rape) that I felt it was wholly believable. I am not LGB or T but you don't have to be to get the message being portrayed here: suppression of your true self is a dangerous thing. One thing I discovered while looking into this movie was that there is a Queer Palm at Cannes, if it encourages more films like this it can only be a good thing.

Not worth the time

[carljoe · 4/10 · 1 August 2013]

Drawn out with too many loose ends. Too much contemplation in the lead actor part. If you can read minds, you might like the movie. Are we led to believe that the guy he attempted to rape, is at the bottom of the pool, or did he actually get what he went to the room for? If not, what the heck happened? Was all forgiven, or was the last bank withdrawal a payoff for silence? The movie just suddenly leaves you hanging, feeling you've wasted an hour and a half of your time. It's ashamed too, because it had the makings of a really good movie. The movie is about a repressed, screwed up guy with too much time and money on his hands. They could've done a much better job of telling the story. One moment you think it might be going somewhere, then all of a sudden it's all over the place, again. The script didn't allow the full potential of the actors. I can't believe it was nominated for any type of award. You'll likely be left thinking, "What the hell just happened" and not in a good way.

One man's experience of the closet and sexual obsession

[Laakbaar · 8/10 · 11 May 2012]

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.

The Baldness of Beauty

[musclechemistry101 · 2/10 · 25 January 2014]

For no apparent reason it has taken me 3 years to get around to watching this film. I wish I had waited 3 years more. After reading about all the acclaim this film received as an "art film" I cannot help but wonder if I had just finished watching the same movie.

More so, I am amazed that none of the critics that reviewed this film could just have said that in fact it was a really badly written movie to which a single person might be able to memorize all the lines of the entire script.

There is nothing memorable about this film except for the consistent bleakness from start to the literally downward spiraling end.

You don't need to be an intellectual to understand obsession, or the need to dominate and hurt without cause. We have all crossed paths with angry and regretful people. Yet as a viewer it is hard to understand why no effort was made to project this struggle with more credit to the intelligence of the viewer.

I hate that this film falls in the gay and lesbian genre. It is more about violence and bigotry than homosexuality.

I can't help feeling like this film was written somewhere between the opening of a cheap bottle of whiskey, someone's last fifty rand and passing out on the floor.

Brilliantly opaque

[p-stepien · 8/10 · 11 January 2012]

In Hermanus's sophomore feature we receive a character study about a repressed Afrikaner homosexual family-man, who starts obsessing about his nephew. A movie focused solely on the main character, not a likable man by any length due to his bubbling volcanoes of sexual frustration coupled with a culturally inflicted hate towards moffies (gays) and blacks.

Enough said that the rating means I liked the movie, despite it's slow pacing and vague storytelling. I must say however that my review is more a direct response to JvH48 review, which I found very lacking and miscommunicated.

1) "An indirect result of falsely reporting his car stolen (why?), is that uncle and nephew finally meet." After the car was stolen he reported it to his family and this resulted in his daughter being told of this fact and hurriedly ending her beach day with Christian. The uncle and nephew finally meet as the first called the latter to have him picked up.

2) "Their conversation seems not to run very smoothly, however. The dialogue falters very often, seemingly no stepping stone for meeting again." Their conversation was not intended to run smoothly. It was supposed to be awkward for Christian.

3) "Nevertheless, they continue talking in the uncle's hotel room (why?)." Christian wanted to borrow money from his rich uncle, hence he went with him to the hotel room to further discuss the loan. As it is between uncle and nephew he found it a natural family occurrence... Most likely the money retrieved from the bank in the penultimate scene is for Christian and his business.

4) "Though what happened in the hotel room can be expected to have severe impact on family relationships, we see no reference to it in any later scene. At least the daughter should know, given her close relation with the nephew." No. That is exactly the point. This occurrence was kept hidden within the family. The movie seems to say that in the Afrikaner culture swiping all the dirt under the carpet is just a way of life. Hence apart from Christian's family cutting ties with Francois and his family the attempted rape had no direct consequences.

4) "For example, the uncle buys an IPod (with o) for this nephew, after hearing that he was in need of an IPad (with a). We see him carrying the IPod along all the time, but never gets the chance to hand it over and have his mistake exposed." Why? Why did the mistake have to be exposed? The iPod served it's purpose as an symbol of Francois's obsession.

5) "And with this closing scene still on our minds, we were sent home without a clue how everything ties together, nor how it makes logical sense." The movie ends with Francois paying out money, most likely to give them to Christian, given his remorse for what happened (also the scenery in the background is Cape Town, but only a knowledgeable observer would notice). After going to the bank Christian by chance sees a couple of gays kiss in a restaurant and feels envious about them and sad about his life. End movie. Everything nicely tied in together and the movie is beautifully punctuated.

Missed opportunity

[appyyh · 4/10 · 22 July 2012]

It could have been a beautiful film. Production and acting are professional, and outdoors shots are clear, bright, colorful and vivid. The indoors scenes, except for the wedding reception at the beginning, however, are lifeless, dull and under-lit. The major shortcomings are the dialogs, which are drawn out and most of the time contribute little to the flow of the story, and excessive length of silence that does not foster any development of emotional or narrative progress. The script writer appears incompetent in that regard. Any good dramas would not let any valuable seconds go to waste. The orgy in the farm house is absolutely disgusting even to gays. And the fact that the main character can get away with impunity after committing rape serves to fuel even more misunderstanding by straights that gays have lower moral standards. I can't help wondering if the director is a homophobe. The only redeeming factor of this movie is Charlie Keegan playing the rape victim Christian, whose presence is totally engaging and lights up the screen in every scene. He is the reason I give this movie a rating of 4 rather than 1.

The ugly consequences of repressed sexuality, with half-baked subtitles

[jm10701 · 2 March 2013]

Beauty is a generally well-made movie about the ugly consequences of sexual repression in an intensely, violently homophobic society in South Africa (although it could just as well have been set in the United States or most other countries). The movie's few serious flaws--Deon Lotz is not believable as a gay man, even as a severely closeted and homophobic gay man; and Charlie Keegan is nowhere near the beauty the movie makes him out to be--in a way aren't really flaws at all, because those incongruities reinforce the fundamental impossibility of anything approaching health and sanity in such a perverted society. The true perverts are the homophobes, and this movie exposes them and portrays the hypocrisy, depravity and violence of their lives with great power and clarity.

The characters are bilingual; the movie's dialog is about 30% English and 70% Afrikaans, often switching back and forth several times within a single multi-person conversation. That would be okay if either both languages were subtitled (the best solution) or if the English were not spoken with a pronounced South African accent--but instead they chose to subtitle ONLY the words spoken in Afrikaans.

Often I found myself wondering why the subtitles suddenly stopped in the middle of a conversation only to realize too late that they were speaking English now so I was supposed to know what they were saying; then they would switch without warning back to Afrikaans and the subtitles resumed.

That's a big mistake, it would have been easy to avoid, and it's unacceptably and unnecessarily distracting. When the same voice alternates between Afrikaans and Afrikaans-accented English, a non-bilingual listener can't make the instantaneous adjustments required to understand every word. It would have cost them practically nothing to subtitle the English too, but they didn't. It became slightly less a problem later in the movie just because I got used to it, but it never ceased to be a distraction. That's the main reason I deducted a few stars.

Too slow to catch cold

[laduqesa · 1/10 · 27 October 2020]

My goodness, one hour and forty minutes of watching paint dry. The amount of material in this film could have been disposed of in an hour or less.

It's just boring, boring, boring. And then we get to the "incident" referred to in the plot outline. Well, that such a severe and serious incident seemed to have no consequences at all was simply not on the cards.

I was fortunate in having a version that subtitled the English parts as well as the Afrikaans. If I'd had just the Afrikaans parts subtitled, as some have mentioned happened when they watched, I would have given up.

No one in this film was remotely sympathetic, not the main character and his dysfunctional family, not his friends or secret friends, not the "Beauty" of the title who wanted to take advantage without paying the price.

It's difficult to give details without turning this into spoilers, but the later events of the film could not conceivably have been engendered by repression and being closeted. It doesn't work on the psychological, social or cinematic level. And as for the ending, were we meant to be sympathetic? I wasn't.

Honestly, don't bother.

Obsessed and repressed and what it can cause (Spoilers)

[fathersonholygore · 10/10 · 12 July 2013]

This was a great and devastating film. Francois is a man who has repressed his sexuality; he is clearly in a near-loveless, or all the way loveless marriage, as he and his wife don't even seem to bump shoulders while in bed, their nightly discourse about some trivial daytime affairs. Francois some times goes to a house where he meets a bunch of other men around the same age; they drink, carry on a bit, and then they watch gay pornography while everyone engages in some form of sexual behaviour. Yet Francois makes comments about people who are "poofs", and "you never can tell with that type". He is one of many, many people in our world who is repressed beyond words. From the start, it appears he has some sort of fascination with Christian, who calls him Uncle Francois, but is not truly his nephew; we learn throughout that Francois and Christian's father served in the military together, and are old pals. However, Francois has more than an "Uncle"'s love regardless. Slowly, we watch his world dissolve around him until one brutal act suddenly changes everything for him.

What I particularly liked was the slow pace because we gradually saw more and more of who Francois was behind the closet doors. There is a scene near the end where Francois dines alone at a restaurant (after taking out a large amount of cash from the bank, which will mean more to you once you've seen the film), and he notices two men who are talking, having a great time, laughing together; soon, they share a nice kiss. Francois is not disgusted in a repressed-type way. The dawning of a new understanding comes upon him; he realizes that is what he could have, he could find happiness if only he didn't bury his true nature deep within himself the way he does. He stares, and you can see Francois realizing that his life could have gone down a different path than where he finds himself; the savage act he perpetrated didn't have to happen. Of course, we know all this, but the realization comes to him near the end. We do not see the ramifications of what he has done, but instead simply there is the progression of Francois; where he started, and where he has ended up. We know what will come for him eventually, or do we? Will anyone ever find out what he has done? Perhaps we'll never know.

I give this a 10 out of 10. Wonderful script. Brilliant, and fearless acting (there are some moments that are quite graphic without actually being full-frontal nudity). I can't recommend this enough. Certainly a tough watch at times, but worth it.

A quality film but not a sexy or feel-good one

[martin-1150 · 5/10 · 12 May 2014]

I bought this film in a hurry without any investigation beforehand; I saw the good looking Christian on the cover and the 4 reviews from respected sources each giving the film 4 stars so I thought this must be good.

And you could tell from the beginning that the film is good and realistic and very well acted - I just hadn't properly registered the LOVE ENVY OBSESSION on the DVD cover and was hoping for a pleasant experience.

What I got was a long brooding film with a shocking scene towards the end of the film.

I guess I do not understand extreme sexual domination towards someone that you supposedly like a lot.

So not recommended if you like romance or encounters between two good looking young guys.

A film of merit, but beware the "uncle"/"nephew" thing

[himbletony · 8/10 · 1 May 2012]

There seems to be a misapprehension about this movie and is key to understanding it. Francois is not in fact a blood uncle. In the opening wedding scene Christian says something ( I can't remember his actual words) which establish that. The opening scene shows Francois transfixed by a vision of a young man known to him last as a boy before the two families lost touch. If he were a REAL uncle, how likely is it that he doesn't already know what he looks like? This changes the whole dynamic of the movie and makes his actions at the later beach scene easier to understand. This movie is very good, but not an easy watch, but I feel that viewers need to know the above, (a point which even a few commercial reviewers got wrong) in order to appreciate its merits.

On and on and on....when will it ever end?

[BILLYBOY-10 · 3/10 · 7 January 2018]

Closeted middle-age unattractive family man obsesses about handsome young friend and in the end go all mental on him. Simple story, could have been done in less than a half hour but the director decided to keep the camera on one face or scene for seemingly hours, so it drags and lags and wastes time. The story is OK, but like I say, horrible direction and editing.

Daring topic about suppressed gay traits in each Afrikaander. Faults in story line and pacing won't help to get the message across

[JvH48 · 20 October 2011]

I saw this film as part of the Ghent filmfestival 2011. The announcement promised hypocrisy around homosexuality within South Africa as the central theme. Daring topic but it completely failed to deliver because of distracting faults in story line and pacing. Worst of all was that our logic was stretched far beyond its natural limits in understanding how events and actions developed into new events. Otherwise it could have attracted other viewers than those already aware of this hypocrisy.

The story follows the uncle character most of the time. Bed time talks with his wife are about cleaning the swimming pool, their daughter asking for money, and other domestic matters, ending with both trying to go asleep on their own bed halves. In full contrast with his life as an average family man, we see him visiting a house where he meets other regulars to have sex with each other. When one of them brings along a young black friend, he is shown the door and told to never come back, as per house rules "no faggots, no blacks". After that incident these middle aged men have an orgy together, a not too attractive sight but necessary to demonstrate dormant gay feelings in the main character, and others with him.

The first contact between the two main characters (uncle and nephew) seemed to go very well when they meet on a wedding reception. The uncle is stricken by the look of the nephew. Due to the considerable distance between the cities they live in, the uncle needs a courageous step to renew their contact. He invents a business trip and arrives in the neighborhood, but still has no valid excuse to get nearer. Fruitlessly, he visits relatives of the nephew, observes him on the university campus, watches him on the beach with his daughter, visits some bars in the city, and so on. Each of these scenes, but especially the last one, drags on way too long without heading in any direction.

A second problem is that I found many logic faults in the story. An indirect result of falsely reporting his car stolen (why?), is that uncle and nephew finally meet. Their conversation seems not to run very smoothly, however. The dialog falters very often, seemingly no stepping stone for meeting again. Nevertheless, they continue talking in the uncle's hotel room (why?). When the uncle finally makes his move, things go very wrong. No fatal injuries on the outside, but internal scars will take time to heal, let alone what the outcry will be when the rest of their family learns about it.

Though what happened in the hotel room can be expected to have severe impact on family relationships, we see no reference to it in any later scene. At least the daughter should know, given her close relation with the nephew. But she only comes home to ask forgiveness (probably about the stolen car, which was not really stolen, as far as I understood). And with this closing scene still on our minds, we were sent home without a clue how everything ties together, nor how it makes logical sense.

All in all, the 99 minutes of this film are not used very well. Illogical sequences of events and several unexplained open ends could have been given more attention in the same time frame. For example, the uncle buys an IPod (with o) for this nephew, after hearing that he was in need of an IPad (with a). We see him carrying the IPod along all the time, but never gets the chance to hand it over and have his mistake exposed. A second example lies in the wrongly ended hotel room scene. I was expecting dire consequences for family relationships, but it mysteriously disappears. All that is left as an exercise to the viewer. Meanwhile too much time is wasted in prolonged bar, café and beach scenes, without contributing anything much to the story.

There is technically nothing wrong with this film as far as casting and acting by main characters is concerned. But irrelevant scenes drag on, while conversely others are too sketchy to let us connect the dots. Further, regarding the promised central "gay traits in each man" theme, stating that double standards exist in South Africa, can be considered daring for the average Afrikaander, but it is in fact nothing new in any part of the world. Those needing to be educated on this, will be resented by the idea alone, and won't even consider watching any part this film. A missed chance, as it might have worked as an eye opener when packaged in a better plot. This is a loss for director as well as actors, since all ingredients were there, just waiting to be picked up.

Unpleasant, unsatisfying and cinematographic too contrived.

[johannes2000-1 · 2/10 · 26 September 2019]

This is a strange movie, don't expect anything like a feel-good coming-out story or a movie about romantic passionate gay love. In that respect the title "Skoonheid" (which is "Beauty" in African) is a bit misleading, since it seems to suggest something pretty. It's really not, this is a very dark, disturbing and depressing movie.

An older husband and father, who already leads a hidden double life, gets obsessively infatuated with his daughters beautiful boyfriend (hence probably the title "Beauty"). Such an infatuation could result in a sorrowful story like that of Death in Venice, or even in a romance if the young guy should fall for the older guy. But here things take a totally different and violent turn.

In many aspects this movie is very unsatisfying. This is partly due to the weird cinematographic mannerisms of the director. At various, mostly pivotal moments in the story he shuts off the sound of the dialogues, so in stead of actually hear them, we just have to watch the actors talking and guess at what has been said. At some point this works okay, but at other moments it is really detrimental to the story and our understanding of it. This especially mars the end of the movie, leaving you with an exasperated what-the-deuce-happened-here?! feeling.

All in all a disappointing movie with a very indistinct message and an unsatisfying conclusion (if any!). The pace is extremely slow (at many points we have to watch Francois for several minutes just sitting still and pondering) and it is even hard to judge the quality of acting, since the actor that plays Francois most of the time doesn't seem to do any acting, but just sits or talks with a blank, inscrutable face.

A Sick Society

[jromanbaker · 10/10 · 2 November 2019]

Without imposing too much of a Marxist interpretation on this film it would be good to ponder on how much our actions are partly formed by the society in which we live. I was shocked to read one reviewer say Francois, the lead character is old, fat and ugly. Is this the sort of judgement we impose upon others created by the endless images of ' beautiful people ' around us ? Francois lives in a world that is repressed, ugly in its moral hypocrisy and full of racism and homophobia. He is trapped in this world, like most of us if we are honest with ourselves and acknowledge that we are trapped in the society we are born in. Some fight to get out, others stay. Many societies are ugly towards homosexuality and he lives in one of them, miserable in a loveless marriage and secretly yearning for the beauty of a fulfilled life he can no longer achieve. The last scene in the film was achingly accurate about this. After many years I have at last caught up with this film. Like other reviewers I saw how terrible the rape is, but I tried to understand the long fierce years of frustration and society's impositions that made it happen. Fritz Lang in ' Scarlet Street ' showed a similar unpunished crime. and Francois will have many long years ahead to live with this guilt. The monster in this film is the societies that breed the climate for such an action - the homosexual persecution and torture in Russia is just one example, and even within America and the UK everything is not ' beautiful ' and discrimination still exists. How many clothes shops for example where two beautiful people advertise the clothes are two men, or two women, clearly in love and together ? I have seen none. Beauty is for the so-called normal. To conclude I thought the film was expertly made and the time it took to relate the story was I believe for us to look closely at the world that surrounded this inwardly desperate man who has a lot of love within, but explodes and commits an atrocious act because he does not have any possibility in his society to express it. The horrifying sexual orgy of homosexual hating men at the beginning of the film was as equally painful to watch, caught like flies in the web of the world that society has made for them. One of the most thought provoking films I have seen recently, equal to the best of the great director Fritz Lang.

Death in Venice --- redone in Capetown

[peru1-595-630106 · 10/10 · 11 April 2013]

I have been looking for a different gay movie where the main character doesn't kill himself or have an over sexual mother who kills herself etc... Or the depressing coming of a age gay movies that have been done a zillion times with all the disappointments and unrequited love to straights endless humiliations the straight girl who loves him who he has to tell the truth to on and on... This movie is it!

I have been to South Africa, Bloemfontein no less, and the scene where the Boer farmers engage in a little secret homosexual love party totally threw me.

A middle aged married man becomes infatuated with a pretty (Title) younger man eventually culminating in a hotel room where he beats him up to have his way instead of the stereotype where the reverse happens. GREAT.

This movie is unique and different...until the very end I was not sure what would happen as gay movies always have to end with some bad ending for the gay protagonist--not this one.

It reminded me a little of a Rod Steiger movie The Sargeant (1968) where Steiger falls in love with a junior army soldier--except Steiger has to commit suicide after coming on to the young recruit.

Times have changed for the better--

For the reviewer baffled by the swimming pool with debris and clothes in it...water is symbolic through out the movie...the rain after the gay bar pure water from the sky..the poetry reading...it symbolizes the id/sexual life of the hero---yucky icky water on the home front lots of hidden things lurking there.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Superlative "Beauty" is gut wrenchingly dark & ugly

[sinnerofcinema · 10/10 · 23 July 2012]

Oliver Hermanus wonderfully crafted "Beauty" was South Africa's submission to the Academy Awards as well as 2011 Un Certain Regard Cannes Film Festival Nominee and a Cannes award winner. This is a tale of repressed turmoil that slowly creep ups to the viewer. A very capable Deon Lotz plays François in an excellent performance filled with subtle anger, rage, jealousy and obsession. These feeling progressively take their toll on the unsuspecting Christian, brilliantly portrayed by Charlie Keegan with a devastating innocence and magnetic charm that will keep audiences disturbed long after experiencing this film.

Family man Francois van Heerden is a haven of many secrets. Secrets that deteriorate as well as rot the insides. In his endurance of life's test and family matters, François is able to keep an expected straight face in his daily dealings as he slowly asphyxiates for attention from his daughter's mate Christian. Christian, on the other hand, not only regards Francois as an elderly figure worthy of respect due to friendship ties with his father but refers to him as "uncle", an adoptive role soon to be tested by an ever raging need to relate in highly improbable ways unbeknown to an oblivious Christian . However, we get the sense that Christian honestly looked up to Francois as an additional father figure source.

The platonic dealings slowly eats away at Francois as he repeatedly insists Christian refer to him by his name in order to detract from the connecting familiar upbringing which seems to awkwardly remind Francois to hold back on his planned intentions. Effective scheming leads to the an extremely troubling conclusion based on a number of deliberate choices and sequential actions meant to pander to the vile objectives to be executed.

Upon the enforcement of his plans, François realizes the results are now irreversible. The damage is done and permanent. The post mutilating events leads to reparations that will ultimately render Francois unrepentant and numb to an uneven arrangement. The brilliance of this story falls within the mix bag of emotions this film emits. The film is beautifully haunting as it unfolds, yet extremely ugly. "Beauty" is a cinematic gem worthy of attention because it will illicit a variety of strong and deep long lasting reactions. It will encourage dialogue with other viewers immediately after watching regarding its many unanswered questions of what could have been.

Brilliant and Shocking

[donwc1996 · 10/10 · 19 July 2013]

This film is without a doubt the most shocking film I have ever seen. It's difficult to say just how the writer/director came about doing this film but a couple of things come to mind. I could not help think of the way Hitchcock would prepare the viewer for a shocking scene by almost lulling the viewer to sleep so that when the big scene takes place you practically jump from your seat and go running for the nearest exit. I'm thinking of Psycho, of course. Here, a virtually identical event takes place and there was no exit for me to run to so I had to stay in my chair and sit out perhaps the most horrific scene I have ever witnessed in a movie or in real life. It is shockingly presented and you sit there frozen thinking to yourself this can't be happening. Everything that happens before the big scene and everything that happens after are completely out of context with the big scene itself and the writer/director has done this precisely the way Hitchcock did it in Psycho. There is an element of abstraction that really hits you hard and you just cannot stop thinking about what you have just seen. In fact, the more I think about this film the more I realize how torn and twisted men are when it comes to lust and the flesh and that the biggest struggle men have is overcoming their sexual desires especially when they are twisted and sick as in this fellow's case. It really is impossible for women to fully grasp just how horrific it is for men in many cases to overcome the flesh and to behave in a humane and decent way. Men are tortured there is no question about it and the man in this film is a perfect example of how wrong a man can go even though on the surface he lives a good life.

Brutal Lessons Not Learned

[dadaltd-65804 · 8/10 · 27 June 2020]

Be forewarned that the title of this film is ironic and rather should be called "Ugly." It is a harsh indictment of where repression, internalized homophobia, machismo and racism lead. The protagonist Francois is a 40/50-something husband, father and business owner, who leads a secret life that includes periodic gatherings with other white middle-aged males for group sex. He becomes infatuated with Christian, the grown son of a friend, who has always viewed Francois as an uncle. Numbed by his routine life, enraged by betraying his true nature, resentful of the liberation of gays and blacks in modern S. Africa, Francois' infatuation becomes an obsession and his frustration seethes and eventually explodes in graphic violence, seemingly with no remorse or understanding and, most regrettably, from this viewer's point of view, no consequences. Powerful but ugly and in the end leaving Francois unredeemable.