John Malkovich and the Morality of South Africa in ‘Disgrace’

CHICAGO – In a stark and compelling tale of naked vulnerability, John Malkovich becomes the centerpiece of the continuing battle for territory and humanity within the country of South Africa, in the newly released “Disgrace.”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Based on a novel by J.M. Coetzee, Malkovich portrays David Lurie, a Cape Town university professor who gets caught up in a career-ending scandal involving an affair with a mixed race student. Forced out of his realm, he takes up residence with his estranged daughter, a frontier practitioner living off the unyielding but beautiful country far from civilization.

Reduced to menial labor and an ascetic lifestyle, the professorial Lurie is useless when a gang of rebels raid the modest house, attacking him and raping his daughter. Forced now to deal with both his weakness and the lack of justice in the harsh territory, Lurie must come to terms with his own perceptions and face the reality of an increasing array of post-apartheid circumstances.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Disgrace”

Father and Daughter Reflections: John Malkovich and Jessica Haines in ‘Disgrace’ Photo credit: Copyright © Icon Film Distribution

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Disgrace”