Skoonheid (2011)

Portrait of a closeted gay husband/father living a life of quiet middle-aged desperation who becomes fixated on a friend's handsome collegiate son, leading to an incident.

Director:

Oliver Hermanus

Writers:

Didier Costet, Oliver Hermanus

Stars:

Deon Lotz, Charlie Keegan, Michelle Scott

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Morné 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

Storyline

Tells the story of Francois van Heerden, a mid-40s, white, Afrikaans-speaking family man living in Bloemfontein, who has become devoid of any care or concern for his own measure of happiness, so convinced of his ill-fated existence, that he is wholly unprepared when a chance encounter unravels his clean, controlled life.

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Plot Keywords:

blow job | oral sex | hairy chest | gay | lumber mill | 

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Taglines:

Every family man has his secrets...

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official distributor's page for the film. [Australia] Official distributor's page for the film. [Belgium]

Country:

South Africa France Germany

Language:

Afrikaans English

Release Date:

5 October 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beauty

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Swift Productions,Équation,Moonlighting Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Francois mentions that his friends have driven a long way to come to his daughter's wedding, all the way from Capetown, South Africa (to Bloemfontein, South Africa), and the distance is almost 1,500 kilometers. Actually, the distance is considerably less. Depending on which route is chosen, the driving distance from Cape Town to Bloemfontein is between 1,001 and 1,111 kilometers.

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Soundtracks

Bernold
Produced by Ben Ludik

User Reviews

Ugly & mentally unstable

First this flick is easily 99% a big bore. And the 1% that isn't a big bore will turn your stomach! François van Heerden has a real problem and all you can think about while watching this long boring story is having this psycho tossed under the bus.

Everything here is ugly - the actors, the acting, the dialog, the settings, the story, etc. So the producers titled it BEAUTY. What irony! You'll be hard pressed to find beauty in this flick.

I got the message, which could have been told in half the time, François van Heerden mission in life is to destroy that which is beautiful. To bring the lives of others down to his level. He's old, fat, ugly and unhappy. His wife is a stone faced complaining old hag, and all his supposed friends are just as hideous. So when he sees someone that appears to be happy, focused, and living a normal life he makes it his purpose to destroy them. The ending of the movie says it all.