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 | vito russo test passed | gay | 

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Taglines:

Love. Envy. Obsession.

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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

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

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Soundtracks

Bernold
Produced by Ben Ludik

User Reviews

The Baldness of Beauty

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.