Disgrace (2008)

In the first third of the film Disgrace, it seems obvious to whom and what the title refers, but once Malkovich leaves his university position in Cape Town to visit his daughter on the outskirts of a rural community, the film offers a much deeper story, made all the more poignant by the several references to Lord Byron (and if you've no backround on Byron, then most of the subtext of what goes on here will be lost on you). Malkovich is perfectly cast as a College Professor of poetry, teaching in South Africa. He reveres Byron and uses a lot of Byron's text to justify his own self centered hedonism. He is a fatalist when the hammer finally falls (again harkening to parellells with Byron), and now at loose ends, decides to obstensively move in with his daughter. Once there he is confronted with the natural backlash of the end of apartheid (let's just call it reverse discrimination) - which some might call justified, or.. ahem, poetic justice - but really arpartheid was a disgrace, and the aftermath just as disgracefull - not the rosy "we are the world" that has been painted so often. The film moves at a very pedestrian pace, which gives one much time to ruminate and consider all kinds of topics - from discrimination on both sides of the coin, to the very real sense of Malkovich being a fish out of water - a highly educated man now living in a world where deepseated anger and might makes right rules the day. The kind of society that the western world is comfortable with crashes head long into a form of anarchy in South Africa, and how all sides deal with this is yet another subtext in the film. As Malkovich struggles, not only with himself, but with what is happening around him, the film, in my opinion, makes a couple of missteps. For all his intellectual insistance that he is a blameless for what society perceives to be his transgressions, he finally apologizes to the family he allegedly has harmed. To me this played false, more of an allegory referencing the bigger picture (apartheid) - unless Malkovich's beliefs were more shaken by the events around him than the film would lead you to believe. Further, after his mea culpa, he returns back to his daughter (who had banished him for reasons I won't get into) - a seemingly humbled man who has lost his self and seems willing to become a stone under the wheel. There is a very telling scene, shortly before the ending in which Malkovich seemingly is offered salvation - in the form of a dog who, as dogs do, offers unconditional love and fealty. A sane man, in a sane world, would have accepted the offer and taken the dog in - but Malkovich's world and his self have been torn asunder, so he abandons the animal - in effect also abandoning his self. Pretty deep stuff - and from what I hear, the source novel is awesome. I just wish the film's pacing was a bit sturdier and some better decisions were made in regards to certain scenes.