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On The Sea (UK)

By Golu
This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
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Skoonheid (Afrikaans/English) [Beauty]

By Golu
When the film started, it felt different; good different. I had the same feeling for almost half point of the movie, despite the fact that the movie was paced very very slow. Each scene lingered 10-15 seconds longer than necessary. Sometimes less is more, and certainly in this case I felt that throughout the film. Had it been better edited, it could have built the tension more effectively in a decent 60-minute film.

Francois is a 40-something man living a unhappy married life. He sees Christian, a close friend's son, at his daughter's wedding and gets totally obsessed with him. We soon realize that Francois is a closet homosexual case. In a very small community of people, who belongs to a very very small group os closet gays who meet once in a while to fulfill their desires. Francois tries to control his obsession as much as he can but he finally gives up. He travels to Cape Town from his village to do something about this, hoping that Christian will have the same feelings for him but his dream is soon to be broken. He sees Christian with his daughter having a good time and it breaks his heart. His inner evil self soon takes over his mind and he starts plotting which ultimately ends up with Christian giving a lift to Francois and to his hotel. Christian needs some money for his business and he asks his 'uncle' Francois for it but Francois has something else in mind. He brutally rapes the young man in his hotel room when Christian refuses to kiss him. When he comes back home, he continues with life as if nothing had happened. The movie ends with Francois withdrawing money from bank (possibly to give it to Christian) and just envying a gay couple in Cape Town.

I was surprised when the film abruptly ended. There was no resolution to the whole rape episode, no punish meant for him, no idea of how Francois felt about it!! Was he remorseful, happy, sad or just didn't bother. We don't know what happens to Christian either. The film is paced very slow so that we can absorb the characters and try to imagine what is going in their head. This is good for a short film or for sometime but after a while it becomes too much to handle. The realism of the movie is uncomfortable at times. Francois acted really really well and yes, Christian was definitely very very good looking. As a gay man, I can see myself getting attracted towards him. He is totally engaging and lights up the screen in every single scene of his.

An interesting film that started fantastic but ultimately ended up a frustrating experience. (4.5/10)
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Unknown said…
Hi
AS a South African it's great to see two of our films on your list.
There is another that I'm trying to find "while you weren't looking"
I'm curious as to where you find all these wonderful films.
Thanks for the blog, it's made me aware of so many movies I never even heard of.
February 10, 2017 at 8:49 AM
Golu said…
I Am glad that you like the blog. I hope you will continue to follow my suggestions. There are so many avenues you can use to watch these films. Just google the right things :)
I hadn't heard of this film that you have mentioned. I will try to look for it now
February 15, 2017 at 6:25 AM
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