Beauty (2011)
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Beauty Movie Review
Beauty is a 2011 South African drama film directed by Oliver Hermanus and starring Deon Lotz. It’s such a good, subtle and very powerful movie.
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“Have you seen Christian?“
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It follows a man who is married and successful at work, but even though he is openly racist and homophobic, he frequently has sex with other men. When he meets one very handsome young man, he becomes infatuated with him so much to the point of obsession. Eventually, he rapes him in one truly painful, really well executed sequence.
So this is largely a tale about the dangers of sexual obsession, repression, frustration and of course of being closeted. That rape scene is particularly realistic in its final moments when the man could not get it done either ’cause he’s old or ’cause the action that he’s just done is making him nervous. But I personally found the end scene truly the standout of the entire picture.
Yes, when he intently starred at a gay couple in a café, that’s when the movie reached real greatness. Just in his face alone, you could see pain, sorrow, longing and fear. You can see how he wishes that he could be open and happy like these two and it’s the type of powerful silent sequence where words aren’t necessary and which shows the true, raw power of arthouse cinema.
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Beauty is certainly an arthouse picture and it does get rather slow at times, especially in its first half which is rather uneventful in its plot points and basically just a build-up for the escalation in the second half. But still, I ended up really liking the film because it treats its subject in both a realistic and human manner. The film’s thematically rich and should prove very relatable to older closeted men, but in particular its use of less dialogue and more silence worked because the script was so good as was the direction and of course the acting.
Without any doubt none of those scenes would have worked had it not been for Deon Leotz’ highly powerful presence. His performance here is just splendid. With just his eyes, he conveyed genuine emotion as well as his facial expressions. Again, with no words, this is tough, but he would prove himself in the silent era as he just has that emotive quality in him.
The other characters are unimportant and particularly the women felt dull and underdeveloped. Again they aren’t important, but I would have liked to have seen at least some development on their behalf. As for the direction, Oliver Hermanus directed the hell out of this movie and I do wonder why it didn’t receive more accolades during the awards and festival run as it truly deserved it.
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It’s also a well scored and well shot film with pretty good dialogue, when it is there of course. Its subdued approach led to many instantly memorable sequences such as also that scene where he stares at the guy at the beach. So well done. The movie manages to be both creepy and moving at the same time which is very difficult to do, but this one pulled it off. When it comes to LGBT movies, it definitely deserves more attention.
Beauty is phenomenally directed by Oliver Hermanus and powerfully acted by Deon Lotz who manages to convey emotion in his eyes alone. It’s an arthouse picture which means the first half is a slow build-up, but the escalating second half is so powerful with the subdued emotional sequences being particularly noteworthy. It’s both a moving and creepy film which superbly and memorably treats the subject of sexual obsession.
