Disgrace

Disgrace Photos

View all photos

Cast & Crew

John Malkovich

David Lurie

Jessica Haines

Lucy

Eriq Ebouaney

Petrus

Fiona Press

Bev

Antoinette Engel

Melanie

Natalie Becker

Soraya

Antonio Fisher

Sidney

David Dennis

Mr. Isaacs

Steve Jacobs

Director

Anna Maria Monticelli

Screenwriter

Wouter Barendrecht

Executive Producer

Julio DePietro

Executive Producer

Steve Jacobs

Producer

Anna Maria Monticelli

Producer

Antony Partos

Original Music

Steve Arnold

Cinematographer

Alexandre de Franceschi

Film Editing

Annie Beauchamp

Production Design

Michael Berg

Production Design

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for Disgrace

Critics Consensus: Jennifer’s Body Is Hot, But The Movie Isn’t

Five Favorite Films with John Malkovich

View All

Critic Reviews for Disgrace

Audience Reviews for Disgrace

• Oct 23, 2012

  In Cape Town, a professor who was fired for screwing a student retreats to his daughter's ranch where they encounter provincial politics and a gang of rapist thieves. This is an extraordinary film. The plot, drenched with post-colonial themes that expose the racism inherent in apartheid, unfolds deftly, and the characters are all compelling, drawn finely and with an uncomfortable realism. The performances are all great, especially by John Malkovich. The scenes between David and Petrus are always rich with subtext. The film's message - even though it's too complex to be reduced to a simple moral - draws a comparison between the Lucy's rape and what white colonialists have done to the country. Additionally, the white characters are in and of themselves victims to their own greedy system. Malkovich, as I've said, is amazing in this film, and I think he can do anything, but he can't do an accent - the one flaw of his work in this film. Overall, <i>Disgrace</i> is simply great, especially for those of you interested in post-colonial theory.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Jun 26, 2012

  When an middle-aged University professor is asked to leave after an affair with a student he turns to his adult daughter, a South-African farmer. Of course he doesn't find peace on the countryside. His encounter with violence and racism out in the fields shakes his beliefs, but does it change him? Malkovich is perfect, of course, in the role. But the film feels without a clear direction at times, doesn't quite seem to know where it is getting at. In the end, there is no solution, just hints of one. The setting does add a very special atmosphere to the film, though and makes it worth seeing after all.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Apr 04, 2011

  In "Disgrace," David Lurie(John Malkovich) is an English professor at a university in Cape Town, a job he has become increasingly disillusioned with. At the same time, he seduces Melanie(Antoinette Engel), one of his students. Of course, not everybody is happy with this relationship as it becomes increasingly public, especially after she attempts suicide. During an official university inquiry, David walks off and promptly resigns, not caring about his pension. He uses the time off to visit his daughter Lucy(Jessica Haines) whose girlfriend has just left her. This leaves her otherwise alone in a remote part of the country with her garden and kennel, employing Petrus(Eriq Ebouaney) as a general handyman. First and foremost, "Disgrace" is a beautifully filmed movie about the changing nature of post-Apartheid South Africa. I should point out that this is not the warm and fuzzy approach, but is instead deeply unsettling, centered around an unspeakable act of violence that occurs offscreen. This highly provocative allegory seeks to explore the future of the white minority who seek to protect their status behind locked gates in suburbs. Any difference in attitudes seems to be generational as it is David who has not adjusted well, shocked at how Petrus feels at home in his daughter's home. On a related note, David must also be told to change his status as a middle-aged lothario.(Of course, I don't have a problem with interracial relationships but they have to occur when race is irrelevant and I don't think that's the case with David.) In the end, John Malkovich's ability to play unlikable characters allows him to succeed in playing a character who at first comes off like just a heel but gets more sympathetic as time goes on.
  

  walter m Super Reviewer
• Jan 17, 2011

  Disgrace is the story about a womanizing Cape Town professor who moves to the countryside with his lesbian daughter where they get embroiled in the messy politics of post-apartheid South Africa. At first I thought this movie would be some comedy about a Casanova professor trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. This movie was through-and-through a heart-breaking drama that started off about one thing and ended up being about something else entirely. The second half of the movie especially had me infuriated. I couldn't understand what was going through his daughter's head living in this part of the country after all of the danger and trauma and found myself angry at her and her neighbors and just not being able to wrap my mind around her logic or actions or her anger towards her father. I didn't like this film because I found myself almost hating a number of the characters in the film, even the daughter after what she goes through. I wouldn't recommend this movie unless you want to find yourself yelling at the TV screen, but that's just me.
  

  Super Reviewer