Reviews & Ratings for
The Quarry More at IMDbPro »

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Quiet And Enigmatic, 17 April 2005
Author: Lechuguilla from Dallas, Texas

In this very low-key film set in the rugged back country of South Africa, a desperate and reticent fugitive takes on a false identity to escape his past. The plot is slow and methodical. Dialogue is minimal. The eerie musical score is used sparingly. Sporadic conversations and the sounds of nature heighten the realism, and allow the viewer to participate in each moment of the film, as it is occurring, without thought of what may happen next.

"The Quarry" is a strange and enigmatic film. There's a curious lack of exposition, or background information. So much of the story is left out. But that intensifies the mystery. Things just happen. We're left to wonder what brought all of this on. And the film's final scene is so unfathomable as to imply a deeply embedded subtext.

I am inclined toward a metaphysical interpretation. No matter how hard we may try to hide from our past transgressions, our own karma will exact, in one way or another, a penalty in proportion to those transgressions.

This film will appeal to viewers who like plots, especially character studies, expressed in a manner that is simple and technically well done, but without the overlay of distracting cinematic gimmicks. It will also appeal to viewers who value film as philosophic or artistic expression.

Biblical, 12 January 2007

Author: karl_consiglio from Malta

I just finished watching this movie this minute and i don't feel satisfied, it did not get together in the end, maybe that is the whole point when one looks at it on a larger scale concerning the human situation keeping at heart and in mind the stirrings of the soul. i mean this film did have its moments and it did keep me interested and maybe I dare to say that it was overall tight to the subject. I knew way in advance that he would give himself up, due to the fact that he was dealing with The book of books here and the fact that the priest he killed did tell ask him to open up "What are you running away from?" The barren desert areas do suggest a biblical story. Finally the fact that the younger brother not without reason nicknamed "Small" is the greatest and the one who is set free. This film echoes the words of The Lord. I got to point out how other characters besides our hero here have secrets and their share of sins, like the rest of us, which they want to conceal, the conscience is making them feel a sense of shame like the love affair between the chief cop and the lady carer. the cop winds up committing the same crime/sin as our "hero". I like the fact that the hero is shot dead on the rail track which makes a lot of sense since he was, or at least we are given the impression that he has been living a trail of the kind of stuff we are allowed to know of him from when the movie begins, he is already running away.

Simple lives are complicated by murder in this quiet yet emotional film, 27 June 1999

Author: Marius Jooste from Pretoria, South Africa

In life every choice you make has some consequences , and you have to accept them after you have made your choice.But your choice doesn't always condemn you and can still lead to salvation .. or not. In this quiet sometime sombre movie by Marion Hansel , a mystery man arrives out of nowhere and commits a crime and assumes the identity of his victim to save himself. The only problem is that his crime was not perfect and his victim was a baptist reverend. He amazes the people (and himself) with his sermons and the conflict in him starts to rise. The conflict between himself and God , but also between himself and the others who have been falsely accused of his crime. Reveal himself and lose all he has built upon or stay hidden and see innocent people judged for his own crimes . ]

The slowmoving nature of this film just highlights the lives of all the characters in the movie. Valentine and Small, the villains in the movie are not what they seem. Brothers and friends to the end and living their own quiet life, now suddenly interrupted by these events. Inspector Moll, biased against race but a secret or two in his own life, and finally the mystery man, where did he come from , who/what was he running away from ?

Some answers stay unknown but some others are answered in this movie which shows that despite the past, salvation lays ahead for all those who will accept it ... and accept the concequences .

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