Beauty (2011) Skoonheid (original title)

Director:

Oliver Hermanus

Writers:

Didier Costet
Oliver Hermanus

Release Date:

5 August 2011 (South Africa)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Tells the story of Francois van Heerden, a mid-40s, white, Afrikaans-speaking family man living in Bloemfontein...

Plot Keywords:

Male Male Kiss | Homosexuality | Male Rape | Wedding Ceremony | Cape Town South Africa

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Deon Lotz	...	François van Heerden
Charlie Keegan	...	Christian Roodt
Michelle Scott	...	Elena van Heerden
Albert Maritz	...	Willem Roodt
Sue Diepeveen	...	Marika Roodt
Roeline Daneel	...	Anika van Heerden
Drikus Volschenk	...	Cliff Engel
Morne Visser	...	Brian
Leon Kruger	...	Henri
Robin Smith	...	Gideon
Jeroen Kranenburg	...	Doctor
Tinarie van Wyk Loots	...	Linda van Heerden
Jan Hendrik Opperman	...	Stefan - groom
Marion Holm	...	Distant aunt
Shaun Rossouw	...	Best man
Elsie Potgieter	...	Young woman
Mart Kotze	...	Murial, banking clerk
Andre Knoesen	...	Farm man #1
Raymond Bassett	...	Farm man #2
Marius Raubenheimer	...	Farm man #3
Hendrik Pistorius	...	Farm man #4
Jefferson J. Dirks-Korkee	...	Young coloured man
Peter Taljaard	...	Elena's lover
Rina Moodley	...	Indian Storekeeper
Norma Anschutz	...	Odd-looking Patient
Owen De Jager	...	Rugby Man #1
Michael de Swardt	...	Rugby Man #2
Lynita Crofford	...	Rugby woman
Chase Downes	...	Man UCT Campus
Georgie Lawson	...	Woman UCT Campus
Lea Seekoe	...	Christian's Friends
Craig Eygenberger	...	Christian's Friends
Andre Solomon	...	Christian's Friends
Geoffrey van Biljoen	...	iPod Sales Assistant
Gordan Stevens	...	Bronx Barman
Riaan Visman	...	Bronx Coloured Man
Clare Bywater	...	Drunk Youth #1
Dylan Baker	...	Drunk Youth #2
Alan Jacobs	...	Bronx Bathroom Coke Man #1
Ross Rowley	...	Bronx Bathroom Coke Man #2
Dave Cannon	...	Bronx Glaring Man #1
Jacques van Rensburg	...	Bronx Glaring Man #2
Megan Barr	...	Brian's Wife
Nico Burger	...	Young Spur Couple
Dean Roberts	...	Young Spur Couple

Directed by
Oliver Hermanus

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Didier Costet
Oliver Hermanus

Produced by
Didier Costet	....	producer
Genevieve Hofmeyr	....	executive producer
Marvin Saven	....	executive producer
Dylan Voogt	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Ben Ludik

Cinematography by
Jamie Ramsay

Film Editing by
George Hanmer

Casting by
Warwick Grier

Production Design by
Franz Lewis

Costume Design by
Reza Levy

Makeup Department
Naeema Clayton	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jade Hamilton	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nadia Brand	....	second assistant director
Simon Damast	....	first assistant director
De Villiers Fourie	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Jana Marie-Hey	....	set dresser
Ernest Mokwena	....	assistant set dresser
Donavan Oostendorp	....	art department assistant
Joe Oosthuizen	....	property master
Johan Oosthuizen	....	on-set art director
Ernie Seegers	....	art department coordinator

Sound Department
Ian Arrow	....	sound mixer
Xavier Bonneyrat	....	sound editor
Laurent Chassaigne	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eric LeGarçon	....	dialogue editor
Jean-Marc Lentretien	....	additional sound effects editor
Gadou Naudin	....	foley artist
Bertrand Roets	....	boom operator

Visual Effects by
Pascal Nowak	....	digital colorist

Camera and Electrical Department
Dylan Bland	....	grip assistant
Elwin Buchel	....	assistant camera
Zahir Karriem	....	key grip
Siseko Malawu	....	best boy grip
Tyron Mountjoy	....	best boy
Diego Ollivier	....	d.i.t
Clint Stone	....	gaffer
Nicholas Turvey	....	first assistant camera
Nicholas Turvey	....	focus puller
Adi Visser	....	camera operator: steadicam

Casting Department
Sonja Krohn	....	casting
Dieter Wambach	....	casting coordinator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leonie Roberts	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Jean-Baptiste Combette	....	on-line editor
Willem Grobler	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Andile Nebulane	....	production assistant
Tamsin Ranger	....	production secretary
Saskia Schiel	....	production coordinator
Ria Van Heerden	....	script supervisor
Marc-Emmanuel Vuaillat	....	legal services

Production Companies

• Moonlighting Films

Distributors

• PRO-FUN media Filmverleih (2011) (Germany) (all media)
• PRO-FUN media Filmverleih (2011) (Austria) (all media)
• ABC Distribution (2012) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2012) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Palace Films (2012) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Équation Distribution (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Film1 (2013) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Homescreen (2012) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2012) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Peccadillo Pictures (2012) (UK) (all media)
• TLA Releasing (2012) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• Global Film Initiative  funding

Also Known As:

"Skoonheid" - South Africa (original title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

South Africa | France | Germany

Language:

Afrikaans | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

France:-16 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:R (2012) | UK:18

Company:

Moonlighting Films

Trivia:

South Africa's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 84th Academy Awards 2012.

One man's experience of the closet and sexual obsession

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 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 to my core (eg the scene near the end when Francois is looking at the 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. 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. I haven't read the other reviews, but I'm sure others have pointed this out as well.

If you enjoy movies with this theme, don't miss this one. It is grossly under-rated on IMDb.com, no doubt because of South Africans and others who are disturbed by it.