J.M. Coetzee’s multi-faceted 1999 post-colonial novel, Disgrace, has been intelligently adapted for the big screen by Australian director/producer Steve Jacobs (La Spagnola).
Adapting literary texts can be a difficult job but Jacobs’ wife, scriptwriter Anna Maria Monticelli, has managed to remain faithful and complementary to the source novel.
It works in the favour of viewers to be familiar with the highly allegorical novel, which won the Booker Prize for the Nobel Laureate.
Set in post-apartheid South Africa, Disgrace revolves around ageing poetry professor David Lurie (John Malkovich), who is bored with the emptiness of his life.
He is single; unable to remain with a woman due to his self-indulgent sexual appetite, which comes to ruin his life and career when he forces himself into a predatory sexual relationship with one of his students.
Unrepentant and stubbornly self-righteous when questioned by his university, the now-disgraced Lurie resigns from his teaching position and leaves his Cape Town home for a rare visit to his lesbian daughter Lucy’s (Jessica Haines) isolated Eastern Cape farm.
Lurie is shocked by the way his daughter has chosen to live her life, and in particular, her strong business partnership with an African worker, Petrus (Eriq Ebouaney).
Not long into his visit and Lurie and Lucy are victims of a brutal attack, which appears to have been organised by Petrus as a way of scaring Lucy off her land.
Undeterred by this attack, Lucy is determined to return to her home and continue as before, however, she is willing to compromise by offering Petrus and his family a stronger partnership in return for future protection.
Lurie is horrified by Lucy’s choices, along with her decision to accept certain consequences that were caused by the attack.
But, all of these events are important lessons for Lurie, who must learn to change his view of life if he is going to be able to have any form of relationship.
Coetzee’s bleak themes of misogyny may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
In fact, this film will drive quite a dichotomy between audiences.
Nevertheless, there is no denying the powerful truths that are being revealed without any rose-tinted glass.
Rarely has the modern man’s mind been so realistically explored – flaws, immaturity, emotions and all.
The acting, particularly the relationship between the exceptional Malkovich and outstanding newcomer Haines, elevates this film to a place where it can proudly companion the original novel.
Disgrace (M)
Directed by: Steve Jacobs
Starring: John Malkovich, Jessica Haines
Rating: four-and-a-half stars (120 mins)
Opens: June 18