What caused Steph's emotional deterioration? I know we saw flashbacks to when he was a boy but nothing that traumatic seems to hve happened to cause the level of his later break with reality.
Overall a very engrossing film. But I do have a gripe: there should have been subtitles because of the abundance of Afrikaans vernacular. I was able to use the caption button on my TV but otherwise it would have been confusing.
Steph was good friend with black children as a kid, but his parents were racists. His mom especially wanted him to not hang out with them at all and raised him like that. But he was always torn inside as he was really not racist and also was a very sensitive kid.
Then he was supposed again to fight and kill black people that would not obey the white laws. Again, he hated war and racism, but as a soldier was supposed to kill them! During an attack he could not kill that black guy who was just smiling and laughing, and just stood there and saw this other soldier kill him in his place; this was another terrible shock to him.
If you take in account that already almost any man coming back from war has post-traumatic shock, it's even more true for very sensitive and peaceful persons.
For him we add the fact that his parents brought him up very severely and to be a racist too.
So when he got home after all he had lived, in a state of shock, it was just too much for him to think that a his girlfriend would have cheated on him and maybe the fact that the man was black made things worst as he would see his mom telling him not to trust them and to hurt them and was all mixed up in his values.
In the end though, his true values remain as he never told that the black man was there and bore alone the heartbreaking killing of his girlfriend.
A very poignant movie, with extraordinary performances from all three of them.
I must say I found Bettany again perfectly spot on; it was not so easy to play this tormented character, in these awful events, making him very touching and believable without overdoing it.
A fabulous performance.
Too bad it didn't get more recognition.
And what a script; everybody should see it.
Awful reality of racism!
I really appreciate the time you took in your explanation. It is right-on.
Yes, this was a extraordinarily thought-provoking movie. It certainly says a lot when a film like this gets little or no notice while the public is bombarded with sheer garbage. I thought of this recently after seeing excerpts from some of the "gross-out" comedies that have become so popular. They are all just plain awful and not even funny. When you look at a film like "The Ballad of Cable Hoague" and the genuinely funny "bawdy" humor in it, then the recent "comedies" suffer badly in comparison.
I had thought of Paul Bettany as a "creepy" actor until I learned he was married to one of the most beautiful actresses in the world. Then, I took a second look at his films and am glad I did.
Thanks again for your reply.
pamela
Hi Pamela and thanks to you too for your reply!
I don't know which movies of Bettany you have seen, but I highly recommend, from what you say, to see him in "The Heart of Me" and "Coming Home", and also in "Master and Commander, the Far Side of the World" and "A Beautiful Mind". He is very charming in "Wimbledon" too.
There are many more I would recommend, I must say I always love the way he portrays any character, but I think you would not like some of the movies he was in, for example "Dead Babies" AKA "Mood Swingers" is pretty... depraved, to say the least. I wouldn't see it again!
You might not like "Gangster no 1" either, where his role is indeed very creepy and he does it perfectly... with such a cold heart that I would say it is purely unexisting!
Watch for him in "The Young Victoria" (he plays Lord Melbourne) and "Creation", (where he plays Darwin in his youth, with Jennifer Connelly playing his wife! this will be heartbreaking!) both on our screens this year!
Have a nice day!
Thanks again for the info and the response. I wrote down the movies I have not seen and they will go on my Netflix list.
Right now, I am almost finished with all the films that Peckinpah made (unfortunately, too few). Previously, I had done the same with Kurosawa. I do tend to find a thread and follow it.
We are predicted to have an ice-snow storm today-tomorrow so am looking forward to watching a couple of movies.
pamela