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just a reviewer wrote on 11/19/2012:

.....film. But, there is another 6-letter "B-word" which exactly describes its story: "Brutal". And now, for your edification, let's take that ugly word apart, one letter at a time:

-- B: - As in Old "BOYS" Club. As in a bunch of older, emotionally unfulfilled, married men, who secretly meet to screw each other over (in every sense of that word).

-- R: - As in "RAPE". As in the unmercifully cruel and forced taking of a radiantly handsome, young man. As in...the viewer gets to be the camera. As in you are there, and it's happening...to you.

-- U: - As in "USED". As in the way many paying viewers of this often static, S-L-O-W moving and deceitful story will feel after watching it.

-- T: - As in "TAKEN". As in...Being Taken (See "USED", above).

-- A: - As in "AFRIKANERS". As in the Germanic ethnic group in Southern Africa, who populate this story and speak in more harsh (to English-hearing ears) Dutch/German tones.

-- L: - As in "LUCKY". As in what you should consider yourself to be...if you heed this forewarning.

PS -- Here's yet another "L": As in "LEARNED" my lesson the hard way. As in this is a non-keeper...a throwaway DVD.

(( 1-STAR is awarded ))

TrojanKnight wrote on 11/17/2012:

Truly a character study on a repressed gay man. Yes, some scenes are deliberately slow but that actually enhanced my own viewing from how boring this man's life was to the predator nature of his actions. I couldn't for the longest time watch the rape scene because how real it appeared for me. I had to pause it many times to get thru. I applaud the actors for such courage to film that. I then realized that this is a 'thriller'. We don't need to see monsters or people killing people for a film to be a 'thriller'. The scariest part is him snapping from his repression and that these repressed gay men are real. That could have been any queer if society repressed us queers. Knowing that makes this film to scary to watch.

Darren wrote on 11/02/2012:

This could have been so much better, if the thing wasnt so slow in places, and pauses in the photography on dead scenes just sitting there for 45 seconds before moving on.

Amos Lassen wrote on 07/03/2012:

The news is out that TLA has acquired the U.S. rights to “Beauty” from South Africa. The film is directed by Oliver Hernanus and is the story of a married man who has to deal with the attraction that he has for other men. Francois van Heerden (Deon Lotz) who is in his mid 40’s is a family man who no longer seems to care about anything including himself and when a coincidental meeting happens between him and another mean, his life that has been controlled, begins to move in a new direction.

The film is an intense and tense look into the lives of middle-aged Afrikaans homosexuals who are trapped in their small town existence and whose prime has passed them by. We really do not see anything that is new about closeted gay men in this somewhat dark look at being gay at middle age. The tension is so thick that at times it makes the viewer uncomfortable but that could also be because many of us may see ourselves in the characters. Visually, the film is deliberately slow so as to make us feel what our main character feels and yet even with explicit scenes, the film is somewhat gentle.

An advertisement in the newspaper was the impetus for the movie. The ad was written very specifically and the advertiser was looking for white, married Afrikaner men to take part in an orgy. This actually becomes one of the scenes in the film. There is also a very disturbing rape scene and I understand that the actors also found the film disturbing as they acted.

The film has been awarded many prizes and specifically the Golden Queer Award at Cannes which goes to the outstanding film that features some aspect of the LGBT community. The original title, “Skoonheid” means “beauty” in Afrikaans and also connotes cleanliness which then refers to godliness and this is very present in the film. Francois realizes that he feels very strongly for a young family friend, Christian. The film is designed to give a look at the life of a repressed gay man and we are certainly made aware that homosexuality carries a stigma in South Africa.

Francois admires Christian from afar but then he becomes bold and eventually he rapes the young man. However, after the rape nothing much happens. I see Francois as a representative of the dangers of shame and repression and the film warns us that the rape experience will probably be repeated. The film really just touches the topic and even though we do get a look at repressed men in repressed society, we feel like we need to know more.