JOHN MALKOVICH
A STEVE JACOBS FILM
WHAT IS A MAD HEART?
WINNER OFFICIAL FIPRESCIA STUDY PRIzE GUIDEBased on the Bookerby M Prizea rgueritewinning novel O’hCoaMPETITIraoN ToRoNTo FILM SyDNEy FILM FESTIVAL 2008 by Nobel Prize winning author J.M.CoETzEE FESTIVAL 2009 http://www.metromagazine.com.au
http://www.theeducationshop.com.au Synopsis It would be suitable for senior David Lurie, twice-divorced and secondary students and tertiary dissatisfied with his job as an English students of literature; contemporary professor in post-apartheid South history and politics; post-colonial Introduction Africa, finds his life falling apart. When studies; and film studies. The film, like he seduces one of his students, and the novel on which it is based, makes Disgrace is based on J.M. Coetzee’s does nothing to protect himself from demands on an audience and refuses 1999 Booker prize-winning novel of the consequences, he is dismissed to offer simple or satisfying solutions to the same name. The novel, set in from his teaching position and takes the issues it deals with. post-apartheid South Africa, struck a refuge on his daughter’s farm in chord around the world as a powerful the Eastern Cape. For a time, his Familiarity with the novel would enrich work dealing with complex characters, daughter’s influence and the natural the way students read this film but it is emotions and sexual encounters. The rhythms of the farm promise to by no means essential. Like all good film is a faithful adaptation of the novel, harmonise his discordant life. But the films, Disgrace has its own strengths portraying the beauty and power of the balance of power in the country is and approach to portraying both natural world as it reveals the moral shifting. In the aftermath of a vicious people and place; gestures, attitudes complexities of people’s lives in a attack on the farm, he is forced to and body language are as eloquent as country where the balance of power is come to terms with more than his the dialogue. shifting in both the private and public disgrace alone. sphere. Disgrace tells the story of one This guide provides some brief man’s downfall to reflect wider issues Curriculum relevance background information about in a society. The production team, While Disgrace can stand alone and apartheid and recent South African including the screenwriter, Anna-Maria provide a rich and complex experience history to offer some context for what Monticelli, director Steve Jacobs, for an audience, it also offers a takes place in the film. For some cinematographer Steve Arnold and fascinating example of the process students, this may not be necessary a uniformly strong cast led by John as they may already have studied of adaptation from book to screen. SCREEN EDUCATION Malkovich as David Lurie have created For students studying either post- and understood some of the complex a film that is exceptional in its fidelity colonial literature and/or the process political, racial, economic and social to the text and refusal to offer simple of adaptation, this film has a great deal history underpinning the story. moral perspectives. to offer. 2 Ideas about collective guilt and re- South Africa, there remains a legacy of KEY CREW AND CAST sponsibility as they are explored in this bitterness, anger and mistrust between film do not just relate to South Africa. people. Past practices have resulted in Crew In Australia, for generations, there was poverty and inequality which will take resistance from both governments generations to ameliorate. Director/producer – Steve Jacobs and white Australians to the idea of Writer/producer – Anna-Maria Monticelli apologising to indigenous Austral- J.M. Coetzee ians for what had happened to them Cinematographer – Steve Arnold Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize since white settlement. It was only for Literature in 2003. He has won the Producer – Emile Sherman in 2008 that the newly elected Labor Booker Prize twice, in 1983 for The Government made a formal apology Composers – Antony Partos and Graeme Life and Times of Michael K and in to Aboriginal Australians on behalf of Koehne 1999 for Disgrace, the novel on which white Australians. This has not how- this film is based. A native of South Editor – Alexandre De Franceschi ever made the past go away and, as in Africa, Coetzee moved to Australia Production designers – Mike Berg (South in 2002 and lives in South Australia. Africa) and Annie Beauchamp (Australia) His prose is spare and his novels sometimes seem to present a rather Cast bleak view of the human condition. Professor David Lurie – John Malkovich Several of his novels deal with the political and social conditions in South Lucy – Jessica Haines Africa, particularly the suffering caused Petrus – Eriq Ebouaney by imperialism, apartheid and post- apartheid violence. Disgrace explores Bev Shaw – Fiona Press some of the unresolved tensions of Melanie – Antoinette Engel the post-apartheid era in South Africa.
Critic James Wood describes the novel Disgrace was shot in South Africa SCREEN EDUCATION as ‘a masterpiece with its loose wail and Australia by a mainly Australian of pain and its vigorous honesty’. (The film crew. The film runs for just under two hours. New Republic)
3 Background information coloured, and Indian), and residential about South Africa and areas were segregated by means of the legacy of Apartheid forced removals. Blacks were stripped Reforms to apartheid in the 1980s of their citizenship, legally becoming failed to quell the mounting opposition What follows is a much-abbreviated citizens of one of ten tribally based both in South Africa and the world, and history of apartheid in South Africa. self-governing homelands or Bantus- in 1990 President de Klerk began ne- As with any society and country with tans, four of which became nominally gotiations to end the system of apart- a long history of colonial rule and independent states. The government heid. He released Mandela and other oppression, the consequences of this segregated education, medical care, political prisoners from jails; these subjugation and dispossession are transport and most public services, negotiations culminated in multi-racial ongoing and complex for all races. providing black people with serv- democratic elections in 1994, which While the details of the historical ices vastly inferior to those of whites. were won by the African National circumstances may be different, the Apartheid in South Africa was a system Congress under Nelson Mandela. The continuing chaos in Zimbabwe and of institutionalized racism and white vestiges of apartheid still shape South other African countries is a direct domination. Mixed-race marriages African politics and society. consequence of their colonial history. were illegal and highly restrictive ‘pass Racial harmony and trust does not laws’ limited the movement of black South Africa has an uncommon emerge within a generation; economic people, many of whom eked out a demographic profile, marked by a and educational equality cannot meagre existence as servants to the heterogeneous population base, social be achieved in a generation; the dominant minority of whites. issues directly related to the legacy wounds are deep. When Disgrace was of apartheid, divisions within ethnic published, the system of apartheid had Apartheid and its oppressive policies groups, HIV/AIDS and emigration. only been officially dismantled for five of disenfranchisement and oppression Consequently, within the Rainbow years. sparked significant internal resistance Nation, demography plays a prominent ‘Apartheid’ – meaning separateness in amongst the black population and role in public policy. Afrikaans – was a system of legal racial some white South Africans. A series segregation enforced by the National of popular uprisings and protests were Blacks compose about 79.7 per cent Party government in South Africa met with the banning of opposition and (2007 estimated) of the population between 1948 and 1994. imprisoning of anti-apartheid leaders, and represent different ethnic groups, including Nelson Mandela who spent including Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Pedi, Racial segregation in South Africa twenty-seven years in prison. As unrest Sotho and Swazi, as well as recent began in colonial times, but apartheid spread and became more violent, immigrants from other parts of Africa SCREEN EDUCATION as an official policy was introduced state organs responded with increas- (particularly Zimbabwe and Nigeria). following the general election of 1948. ing repression and state-sponsored Whites compose 9.1 per cent (2007 New legislation classified inhabit- violence. estimate), comprising of the descend- ants into racial groups (black, white, ants of Dutch, French, British, and 4 Pre-viewing activity
The art of adaptation
Disgrace was adapted from Coetzee’s novel of the same name by Anna-Maria Monticelli.
Read the following introductory mate- rial about adaptation of books to film and respond to the questions that follow before you watch Disgrace. After watching the film you might like to return to these questions and discuss how this adaptation works.
Adapting a novel to a film is always dif- ficult. The process by which one thing German settlers who began arriving ciliation Hearings’ which ran from 1995 develops into another, with one form at the Cape from the late seventeenth to 1998. These commissions invited changing into something else, needs century, immigrants from Europe who people to tell their stories of life and to be done with care and sensitiv- arrived in South Africa in the twenti- injustices suffered under the apartheid ity, but above all with an affectionate eth century, and Portuguese who left regime. The mandate of the commis- respect for the original source material. the former Portuguese colonies of sion was to bear witness to, record The differences in the method avail- southern Africa (Angola and Mozam- and in some cases grant amnesty to able to filmmaker and writer to tell a bique) after their independence in the the perpetrators of crimes relating to story are enormous. Often, readers of a mid-1970s. Coloureds (8.8 per cent, human rights violations, reparation and novel will come to the film with strong 2007 estimate) are mixed-race people rehabilitation. One of the key questions pre-conceptions about how charac- primarily descended from the earliest arising from these hearings was – Can ters should look and behave, what is settlers, their slaves, and the indig- remorse and admissions of guilt lead essential for inclusion in the film and enous peoples. The remaining 2.4 per the way to atonement and forgiveness, a general scepticism about whether cent are categorised as ‘Indian/Asian’, making a new co-existence between a great novel can be made into a film including the descendants of Indian black and white, oppressed and vic- that is both faithful and illuminating indentured sugar estate workers and tims, possible? about the source material from which traders who came to South Africa in it originated. Fidelity does not simply the mid-nineteenth century (particu- While Coetzee’s novel, published in mean inclusion of all the details of the larly around Natal), as well as a small 1999, does not deal directly with the story; it should mean being true to Chinese population of approximately commission hearings, some of these the tone and intention of the original 100,000 people. questions resonate in Disgrace. text, what Salman Rushdie calls ‘the question of essences’.2 Watching films South Africa has relatively high rates of tends to be a more popular pastime emigration (the majority are white). Ac- than reading novels in the twenty-first cording to OECD data, countries with a large number of South African immi- grants (irrespective of naturalisation) include the United Kingdom (141,405; 2001 estimated), Australia (79,425; 2001 est.), United States (68,290 est.; 2000 est.), Canada (37,680; 2001 est.) and New Zealand (26,061; 2001 est.). Smaller South African communities are in Portugal, Netherlands, Greece and Ireland.1
Truth and Reconciliation SCREEN EDUCATION Commission
At the end of the apartheid era, Presi- dent Mandela set up ‘Truth and Recon-
5 • Make a list of films you have larly where the novel is watched in the past few years that both contemporary and popular. have been adapted from a book you have read. A viewing log The film runs for approximately 110 • What are your criteria for a good minutes. While there are many different adaptation of a book to a film? scenes, the narrative can be divided into a number of sections or ‘Acts’, as • How often is the process success- in a drama. Being clear about when ful when it is reversed, where a film events happen and how individuals is turned into a novel? respond to them is important in a film like Disgrace where the things that • Why might a filmmaker choose to happen and their consequences and select or omit scenes and some- meanings are seen differently by key century, and the release of a filmed times even include some scenes figures in the story. The table on pages adaptation of a novel can greatly ac- that are either not in the novel, or 7 and 8 breaks the film down into ten celerate the sales of a title. In recent only incidental to the story? ‘Acts’, outlining the key scenes in years, sales of Tolkien’s Lord of the each of these ‘Acts’. However, such Rings trilogy soared with the release • Is it reasonable for an adaptation a bald summary of ‘what happens’ of Peter Jackson’s adaptations of to change emphases and even cannot render how we are shown the the books into three award-winning endings for dramatic cinematic ways in which things happen. It cannot films. It is worth thinking about what is purposes, e.g. ‘a happy ending’? suggest tone, mood, pace or style, just lost and gained in film adaptations of as a summary of a novel tells us little novels apart from increased sales of • How crucial is the choice of actors about the real nature and strength of the original text. Anna-Maria Monticelli, in playing key roles to the success the story. What matters most may be SCREEN EDUCATION who adapted Coetzee’s novel to the of a filmed adaptation of a novel? conveyed through something other screen, won the prize for best feature Give some examples where you than words or actions. film adaptation at the 2008 Australian think this does or does not work in Writers’ Guild Awards for Disgrace. films you have watched, particu-
6 Section Scenes Time log
1. David Lurie in Cape Town – Lurie with Soraya, the prostitute he visits regularly. 00:00–00:20 establishing the seeds of Lurie’s Lecturing to his students about Wordsworth. Many of these ‘disgrace’ His first direct meeting with Melanie, one of his students. scenes are quite brief. Entertaining Melanie at his house. (20 minutes) Checking her personal contact details in Student Records. Lunch with Melanie followed by sex. Offering Melanie a ride home in the rain. Asks to see her again. At Melanie’s play rehearsal. Goes to her house and has sex with her. In class. She does not appear for the test but he marks her as present. Melanie’s boyfriend confronts Lurie in his office. His car is vandalized. In class. Melanie’s boyfriend is there with her. In his office with Melanie, insisting she sit the missed test. Motorbike scene. In class. Very few students attending. Blackboard says CASANOVA. Lurie confronted in corridor by Mr. Isaacs, Melanie’s father. Dining with his ex-wife who tells him people know what he’s done and that ‘Melanie took sleeping pills’.
2. The Inquiry Inquiry of peers into Lurie’s behaviour with Melanie. He admits guilt but 00:20–00:25 refuses to defend himself. (5 minutes) Press pressure Lurie for a statement. Lurie at home packing things to go away.
3. Going to his daughter Lucy’s Driving away from Cape Town through the rolling countryside of vast 00:24–00:38 farm in the Eastern Cape spaces and emptiness. (14 minutes) Finds Lucy alone on her farm, her partner Helen having left for the city. Meets Petrus who works for Lucy but is also becoming a part-owner of the farm. Shown around farm, which includes boarding kennels for dogs. Hears barking of dogs at night. David helps Lucy and Petrus pick flowers and vegetables to sell at local market. Meets Bev and Bill, Lucy’s friends, who have an animal shelter and clinic. David querying Lucy about Petrus’ right to come and go in the house. Lucy suggests David help Petrus with farm work and assist Bev at her animal clinic. David assisting at the clinic – feeding dogs and helping with the animals.
4. The violent assault at Lucy’s Lucy and David are walking three dogs. As they approach her farm, three 00:37–00:48 farm black men ask to use the phone. Lucy takes one of them inside and the (11 minutes) others attack David who is locked out of the house. David is knocked out and locked in the toilet while the men ransack the house, sexually assault Lucy and load up the car with their spoils. They pour spirits on David and set him on fire. He hears the dogs being shot. Lucy unlocks the door. She walks to a neighbour’s farm for help, telling David that each will give their own account of what happened to them.
5. The immediate aftermath Ettinger, the neighbour, takes them to the local hospital, advising them to 00:47–01:00 be fully armed. (13 minutes) At the clinic, David’s burns are treated. Lucy goes to police station with Ettinger. SCREEN EDUCATION Bill takes them to his place where Bev cares for them. At Lucy’s insistence they return to the farm. David digs graves to bury the dogs. Petrus returns in a truck. Lucy seems passive and distressed and is unwilling to talk about the assault. David’s relationship with Petrus is increasingly strained. 7 6. Changing relationships David and Lucy attend Petrus’ party to celebrate the land transfer. 01:00–01:08 Lucy sees one of the men (the young boy) who was one of the attackers. (8 minutes) Lucy stops David calling the police, insisting the peace must be kept. Petrus will not reveal the boy’s name to David.
7. David, Bev and the dogs Bev tells David that Lucy owes Petrus a lot. 01:07–01:19 She tells him that he cannot know what really happened because he was (12 minutes) not there. He assists with the euthanising of the dogs and takes the corpses away for burning. David weeps alone in the truck. He and Bev work and talk together David and Bev begin a sexual relationship. He strongly urges Lucy to go away where she will be safe but she refuses. Bev suggests David go back to Cape Town for a while.
8. Returning to the city and seeking David visits Melanie’s family and speaks with Mr. Isaacs to give his side 01:19–01:31 forgiveness of what happened. (12 minutes) David asks for forgiveness but Isaacs suspects his sincerity and motive. David kisses the floor in a doorway in front of Melanie’s mother and sister in a gesture of contrition. He drives to his home in Cape Town which has been broken into and vandalized. He attends a performance of Melanie’s play and encounters her boy- friend. He picks up a prostitute during the night.
9. Returning to the Eastern Cape David returns to the farm where Lucy tells him she is pregnant and 01:31–01:40 and Lucy intending to have the child of one of the rapists. (9 minutes) He weeps alone outside her house. Lucy tells him that the young boy is Petrus’ wife’s brother Pollux, and that he is a disturbed child. David tries to discuss the situation with Petrus. Lucy explains that for the good of everyone she is entering into a legal alliance with Petrus – accepting his protection in return for handing over the land to him.
10. Endings David returns to farm with dog and sees Pollux watching Lucy through a 01:40–01:48 window. He attacks him as does the dog. (8 minutes) Lucy breaks up the struggle and the boy sees her breasts as her gown slips off her shoulders. David goes to see Bev looking for a place to stay.
He helps with the euthanising of the dogs including a young dog that has SCREEN EDUCATION responded to him. He stops at Lucy’s and watches her as she works in the garden. They go inside together for tea. Total time: Approx. 111 minutes 8 Student Activities • How does David Lurie respond to the land and the life he finds in the After watching the film Eastern Cape region?
A. Figures in a landscape and the • What kind of ‘interior life’ and power of the land physical and emotional qualities are needed to live in country like this? The landscape of South Africa, and particularly the Eastern Cape region of • Do the black people have stronger Lucy’s farm, is an important element in claims to land use and ownership this film, something more than back- than the white people who have ground or setting. At times breathtak- been the traditional landowners ingly beautiful in its vastness, at other and farmers in South Africa? times redolent with a dry and desolate farm seem wilful or even perverse hostility, both isolated and alienating. • The number of car thefts in South in the circumstances? Land use and ownership is at the heart Africa is very high. Why are vehi- of the political and social history of cles such important possessions in • Do we accept and feel uneasy that many countries, and this is particularly rural areas? David ‘did nothing, wasn’t there’ the situation in Africa. (as Bev says), when Lucy was B. Looking at characters raped? • What kind of comfort and natural rhythm does the farm David Lurie and his adult daughter • Is his subsequent behaviour under- offer to Lucy? Lucy are the central characters standable given Lucy’s insistence in this film. on managing the situation her own • How does she cope with the isola- way? tion and what is dangerous about The film raises important questions living in the country as Lucy has about whose perspectives about what • Has what he has experienced chosen to do? happens are endorsed, if any. The changed him in any important following questions are certainly worth ways, and how do we know? • What contrasts are suggested be- thinking about and discussing, but tween the rhythms of city and rural establishing simple and clear-cut an- • Here are some definitions of the life in this film? swers to any of them is not something word disgrace: either the novel Disgrace or the film invites us to do. o Loss of honour, respect, or reputation; • What perspective of a white South o shame; African living in a post-apartheid o the condition of being strongly world does Lucy represent? and generally disapproved of; o something that brings disfavour • What are we to make of Petrus and or discredit. his view that ‘everything will be all right’? How do these definitions apply to what happens in the story? Who is • Is David Lurie’s behaviour in Cape disgraced and how? Is ‘disgrace’ as Town understandable, if not ac- a term of disapproval only applied to ceptable to most people? human behaviour?
• How is his being part of an earlier One way of understanding the multiple generation, with different experi- perspectives embodied in the film ences to his daughter, shown in the is by listening to what people say. film? Here are some quotes that are worth exploring. They are grouped sequen- • How are we to understand Lucy’s tially in line with the viewing log determination not to pursue the sections from 1 to 10. rapists, or even to condemn their SCREEN EDUCATION actions and seek some revenge? 1. ‘A woman’s beauty does not belong to her alone.’ • Does her choosing to stay on the – David Lurie to Melanie
9 ‘We are not asked to condemn him but invited to sympathise. He is a thing, a monster, not possible to love, condemned to solitude.’
– Lurie explaining how Byron writes about Lucifer
‘The whole thing is disgusting and vulgar.’
– Lurie’s ex-wife expressing her view to him of the affair with Melanie – David quoting from Blake to ‘How can a doctor take care Lucy to explain his own behaviour of all eventualities, David? Have 2. ‘I plead guilty to both charges. some sense.’ Pass sentence and let’s get David: ‘Can Petrus come in here on with our lives.’ just as he pleases?’ – Lucy to David
– Lurie to the Board of Inquiry Lucy: ‘We have an understanding. ‘Things are changing. Ettinger is We share the use of the land.’ wrong. Guns and gates don’t save ‘I took advantage of my position. you.’ It was wrong and I regret it.’ These animal welfare people are a bit like Christians; everyone is so – David to Lucy – Lurie to the Board of Inquiry well-intentioned, good and cheer- ful, that after a while you itch to go ‘There’s no shame in being the ‘Does this statement come from off and do some raping and pillag- object of a crime.’ the heart? Does it reflect your ing, or kick the cat. sincere feelings?’ – David to Lucy – David telling Lucy why he thinks – Member of the Board he’s unlikely to get on with Bev ‘What happened to me is purely of Inquiry to Lurie a private matter, this place being ‘I do mind, I mind deeply.’ what it is … South Africa.’ ‘I’ve become a servant of Eros.’ – Bev replying to David’s – Lucy to David – Lurie to the Board of Inquiry question about how she feels about euthanising the animals 6. ‘Why are you protecting Petrus?’ 3. ‘I have a boarding kennel and a rifle. I’m not afraid.’ 4. ‘Desire cannot be punished. The – David dog came to hate its own nature.’ – Lucy to David ‘Don’t shout at me. This is my life. – David explaining to Lucy about I’m the one who has to live here.’ ‘I’m anxious about my daughter the cruelty to a dog he observed living here.’ during her childhood – Lucy
– David to Petrus ‘You say what happened to you ‘It is hard for me. I must keep the and I’ll say what happened to me.’ peace.’ ‘Here it is alright I think.’ – Lucy to David after the violent – Petrus to David – Petrus to David robbery and assault at the farm 7. ‘But you weren’t there David.’ ‘He helps me out and is also 5. ‘I never go anywhere without my co-proprietor.’ beretta [pistol]. At least you can – Bev to David save yourself because the police – Lucy to David, explaining won’t … not anymore.’ ‘Do you regret what happened in SCREEN EDUCATION Petrus’ position on the farm Cape Town?’ – Ettinger, Lucy’s white neighbour, ‘Sooner murder an infant in the cra- to Lucy and David – Bev to David dle than nurse unacted desires.’
10 ‘At least here I’m out of the way of temptation.’
– David to Bev
‘Can’t we talk about it rationally?’
– David
‘I can’t talk about it anymore.’
– Lucy
‘You were raped by three men and I did nothing.’
– David ‘He is a child, my relative.’ and Blake. He is working on an opera They do rape; stealing is just a about Byron’s final years in Italy before sideline. I think they marked me. – Petrus to David his death at thirty-six. Lurie quotes Maybe they see me as owing lines from poetry to his students, something. Maybe hating a woman ‘It is not finished. He is a danger- but often these are to explain and or a man can make sex more excit- ous child.’ sometimes justify his own behaviour ing. It must be a bit like killing … to them. He also quotes lines from you’re a man … you should know. – David William Blake to his daughter to try and get her to understand his view of – Lucy to David ‘Petrus is offering an alliance. In the world and his own behaviour and return for his protection I will be his attitudes. 8. I would like to give you my side of wife. I’ll hand over the land to him the story. Melanie struck up a fire in and keep the house. I’m not leav- • How do these incursions into litera- me. I am truly sorry for what I have ing.’ ture, as some kind of model for his put your daughter and your family own life, serve to help our under- through. – Lucy to David standing of some of his views, especially about sexuality and male – David to Mr. Isaacs, 10. ‘This can’t go on David. He’s a desire? Melanie’s father disturbed child.’ • Given his apparently cool, ascetic ‘I say to myself, we are all sorry – Lucy to David after the incident nature and solitary life, what kind of when we are found out, but the with the boy Pollux spying on her solace and comfort might Lurie find question is, what are you going to in romantic poets like Wordsworth do now you are sorry?’ ‘That’s not an excuse for what and Byron? he did to you. He should be – Mr. Isaacs to David in an institution.’ • Does his use of literature seem to be in some ways a rationalisation ‘Stick with your own kind. Keep – David for his behaviour and attitudes to- away from her. Find yourself an- wards women and sex? Does it al- other life.’ ‘Well, he’s here and that’s a fact of low him to live in a world removed life. Everything had settled down from the reality of the new South – Melanie’s boyfriend to David before you came back here.’ Africa? when he goes to see her play – Lucy D. Dogs 9. I am pregnant from that day. I’m not having an abortion. The child C. Literary References Animals and their treatment by humans came from one of those men. Must is a recurrent theme and motif in this I choose against a child because of David Lurie is a Professor of Literature film – what does their ownership, use SCREEN EDUCATION who the father is? at the University of Cape Town. His and treatment convey about both peo- particular interest and area of study ple and the society in which they live? – Lucy to David is Romantic English Literature – the Lucy boards dogs and has a compan- poetry of Keats, Wordsworth, Byron ion dog; her friend and neighbour Bev
11 • How does the story David tells • Do you think it is possible for black Lucy, about cruelty to a dog that and white South Africans to live he observed when she was a child, in harmony, given the legacy of relate to his own behaviour when apartheid with its deliberate racism, it comes to what is essential and dispossession and contempt? fundamental to the nature of living creatures? • Are we invited to judge David Lurie for any of the things he does and • Why do you think David Lurie does not do? What could he have decides not to save the young dog done to protect his daughter? and then takes part in its being put down towards the end of the film? • Is it possible to understand Lucy’s response to the gang rape and • Is it possible to infer anything about violation of herself and her prop- Coetzee’s views about animal wel- erty? Does her compromise to ally runs an animal shelter where animals fare from what we see in the film in herself with Petrus for their mutual are given some veterinary care and Lurie’s attitudes? benefit make any sense to you? Is often euthanised; David Lurie both she attempting to make reparations works with Bev and is involved in the • Is the worth of a dog’s life any more for the evils of apartheid? business of disposing of the dogs after or less to be valued than that of they are killed; the dogs on Lucy’s farm the people in this story or is human • What does Petrus see as his busi- are also victims of the violent assault treatment of animals more the ness in ‘keeping the peace’? What on Lucy and David. focus of the author’s concerns? are his priorities in this society where for so long he has been ‘a In South Africa during the apartheid • Cruelty to animals is abhorrent to dogman’, without land, hope or era, police dogs were commonly used many people, while indifference to prospects? to break up protests and disturbances. their fate is less likely to be judged White settlers often owned well-trained as morally reprehensible. Where do • When Disgrace was first published guard dogs, such as Rhodesian you stand on this issue? in 1999, some critics in South Ridgebacks, Rottweilers, Mastiffs and Africa were critical of the way black German Shepherds to protect them- Coetzee published a book in 2001 South Africans were represented selves and their properties. Abandoned called The Lives of Animals, a col- in the novel, arguing that they were cross-breeds are still a common sight lection of stories and essays which ‘not fleshed out’ and presented as in many rural areas. While different deals with the ethical issues of man’s ‘evildoers’.3 Could this criticism cultures have different attitudes to ani- relationship with other animals. He also be made of the black charac- mals, and rural working dogs in many has also been a patron of Voiceless, ters in the film? societies are treated differently to an Animal Rights organisation which companion animals in Australian cities, ‘envisions a world in which animals are • At the end of the film, what has our treatment of animals is often seen treated with respect and compassion’. changed for these people – for as a barometer of our humanity and David Lurie, for Lucy, for Petrus capacity to respond compassionately E. Ethical questions – the personal and Bev? to other creatures. In many societies and the political animals are much more (and less) • Has David Lurie achieved a kind of than pets. Coetzee’s work deals with difficult redemption, and if so, what might issues, particularly about what it is to that be? • What is David Lurie’s initial re- be human and how we should treat sponse to the dogs on Lucy’s farm other people and animals. In this film, Student Activity and at Bev’s veterinary practice? there may be many aspects of how individuals behave that we find hard to The filmmakers and cast • How does this change as he understand, but as Bev says, ‘we were and their perceptions spends more time at the farm and not there’. at Bev’s clinic? of Disgrace People’s decisions and responses to Steve Jacobs directed Disgrace. He is • What does he learn through Bev’s what happens are always determined also one of the producers of the film. treatment of the animals she both by their own situation and their values. An actor and director, Jacobs won SCREEN EDUCATION cares for and has to kill? The personal is intricately bound up an AFI award in 1987 for best actor with the political situation. History in A Single Life. His first feature film • At what points in the film do the often lies heavily on people’s actions. as director was the award-winning La dogs act as guards of their owners?
12 Spagnola (2001), made with Anna- sophistication with simplicity, the lives • How far do you think Jacob’s film Maria Monticelli. Here is his director’s shows not only why South Africans and values of whites with blacks and statement: leave but why they sometimes male and female responses. These We wanted our film to be faithful to Mr choose to stay? different spaces and worlds are all both Coetzee’s great novel, portraying South connected but separate. Through the editing we move between these places Africa as a complex society wrestling • Which of the themes he names do with the aftermath of Apartheid. These you think are most important in the in a series of seamless transitions. arguments are played out through- film? There are long shots, particularly of the out the narrative but are particularly farm, which reflect the isolation and the focused in the intense relationship Anna-Maria Monticelli adapted majestic beauty of this world; there are between David and his daughter, Lucy. Disgrace from J.M. Coetzee’s 1999 close ups of interiors that render the The intimacies of their personal drama Booker prize-winning novel of the tensions between people in a way that reflect the often-conflicting reactions to same name. She is also a co-producer is often claustrophobic. Apart from the the horrific event that is central to the of the film. work of the cinematographer, (Steve film. Set amidst a dramatic backdrop of Arnold) and the editor (Alexandre De mountains and valleys, our characters Monticelli, Moroccan-born, has a Franceschi), the Production Designers struggle with the turmoil of continuing. background in acting and wrote the and lighting crew have an enormous The spectacular landscape becomes script for La Spagnola. She describes influence on the look of a film. Mike integral to their personal journey, a the novel Disgrace as ‘extraordinary, Berg was the production designer in journey that is both modern and old brave and real’ and her response to it South Africa and Annie Beauchamp in South Africa. as ‘organic and immediate’. Coetzee Australia. liked her adaptation. She felt that • What emotional states are sug- The moral arguments in the film are getting the casting right was crucial. gested through these different shades of grey and the actors were Anna-Maria feels the film shows ‘a landscapes? asked to reflect these nuances in the brutality and a truth very much South many dilemmas they face, leading the African, yet it can translate to other • David Lurie is often seen looking audience into the unexpected via lay- countries. Lucy has hope, but it’s hor- through windows and doorways, ers and subtexts. rific what has happened there.’5 sometimes behind blinds or curtains, as in the opening scene. Yet despite this, this is still Africa and Her adaptation of Disgrace won the What do these images suggest the physicalness of Africa dominates 2008 prize for best feature film adap- about his place in the different the film, particularly the epic location of tation at the Australian Writers’ Guild worlds in which he moves? Lucy’s farm. Portraying the power and Awards. beauty of this natural world is, I believe, • What do the objects and furnish- essential if we are to understand why, • The film is quite spare in terms of ings in Lurie’s house suggest despite everything, Lucy decides to dialogue. How does this reflect about him? stay. South Africans every day have to the essential nature of each of the make similar choices; we wanted to central characters? • Is it possible to imagine Lucy in the show in Disgrace why they sometimes city? When and where does she remain, not just why they go. • What else is required of an adapta- seem most comfortable and at one tion of a novel to film apart from the with the world? Jacobs says that he found the novel dialogue? realistic rather than bleak, ‘but real- • How does the Isaacs’ house reflect ist cinema is not so popular at the • Why do you think Monticelli chose the style and values of the family? moment; it’s basically escapist’. This a linear narrative structure for this response explains his approach to the filmed adaptation rather than the • What impression does David (and style of the film, ‘not what I would call often-used cutting back and forth the viewer) have of Bev’s house the a modern interactive style. I want the in time to reflect on the genesis of first time he goes there? audience to make judgements them- what happens? selves so the camera stands back’. He • Describe the atmosphere at thinks the themes of the film include The look of the film Petros’ party before things start grace, revenge, retribution, sex, au- From the wide dry hills of the Eastern to go wrong. thority and power. Jacobs believes the Cape to the Cape Town scenes set The sounds of the film film, like the book, will create a degree around the university and the long of controversy ‘in a productive way, roads linking these very different areas, The soundtrack of this film SCREEN EDUCATION not sensationalist. It will press some the film contrasts the countryside incorporates classical music with 4 buttons that are deep in all of us’. with the city, poverty with wealth, traditional African music.
13 • Comment on the five main per- formances in this film. What does each actor bring to their role? If you have read the novel on which the film is based, were these roles played as you would have expect- ed in relation to how you pictured the characters in the novel?
• Was there a performance that you thought was exceptionally strong in the way the actor presented the character’s emotional states and vulnerability?
Antony Partos composed the score • Is there much music heard on Awards and Reviews with renowned composer Graeme Lucy’s farm? Who plays it and in Anna-Maria Monticelli’s adaptation Koehne. which scenes? of Disgrace won the 2008 prize for The cast’s perceptions Best Feature Film Adaptation at the Partos’ work includes the scores for Australian Writers’ Guild Awards. several feature films including Crush John Malkovich as Professor David (Alison Maclean, 1992), Walking on Lurie: Disgrace won the International Critic’s Water (Tony Ayres, 2002), Soft Fruit Award at the Toronto International Film (Christina Andreef, 1999), The Mon- ‘Coetzee is a terrific writer with Festival in 2008. key’s Mask (Samantha Lang, 2000), challenging characters and this is an Garage Days (Alex Proyas, 2002) and adaptation of a complex story. If Lurie As the film has not been widely The Home Song Stories (Tony Ayres, finds redemption, this film ends before screened, there are few reviews avail- 2007). His most recent scores were for it happens.’ able at this time. Those that have ap- Unfinished Sky (Peter Duncan, 2007) peared are mostly very positive about and the ABC telemovie Valentine’s Day. South African actor Jessica Haines the film. Alan Hunter writing in Screen His television work includes writing has said of her role as Lucy: Daily says: the music for the series White Collar Blue, All Saints and the telemovie The It’s about conflict between her own Malkovich’s Lurie is a product of his Silence, as well as the theme for the struggle in her head and her heart. time and his male instincts but despite ABC review show At The Movies. When David invades her space, she’s his actions he remains a sympathetic attacked and her perfect world has figure … we identify with his desire for Graeme Koehne is currently head of been tarnished. She takes on a lot of order and the rule of law as well as the composition at the Elder Conservato- responsibility and starts to change. She contradictions he voices about love, rium in Adelaide. He composed ‘She makes forward-thinking choices that desire and the workings of the hu- Walks in Beauty’, one of three songs are so radical. man heart. He is a flawed and fallible he composed based on the poems of character. Byron. The song is heard at the end of Eriq Ebouaney as Petrus sees Dis- the film and is part of the opera David grace as a metaphor for Africa, the Jessica Haines matches him in the Lurie writes during the film. land: other main role, showing the resent- ments within her Lucy and her desire • At what points in the film were The fact that Lucy decides to keep to do whatever it takes to build a new you particularly conscious of the baby and to live with Petrus is a understanding that might be the basis the soundtrack? metaphor for people living together. for a better future.6 People should be humble and open- • How are different styles of music minded. You should look forward and • Which aspects of Disgrace did you used to reflect different characters stop looking backward because it is most admire – characterisation and and their emotions? E.g. David finished now. performances, the script, cin- plays classical music for Melanie ematography, editing, production when she first comes to his place, Fiona Press as Bev Shaw design, soundtrack or direction? but when he is at her place, we SCREEN EDUCATION hear more contemporary music. Antoinette Engel as Melanie Write a review of the film that looks
14 closely at no more than two of http://www.complete-review.com/ Endnotes 1 these areas of the film as a means reviews/coetzeej/disgrace.htm Adapted from the Wikipedia site on of highlighting its qualities. Read a number of reviews of the South Africa,
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