The Book of Revelation (2006)

Director:

Ana Kokkinos

Writers:

Rupert Thomson (novel)
Ana Kokkinos (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 September 2006 (Australia)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

A secret he would not share. An obsession he could not control. A mystery he dare not resolve.

Plot:

An erotic mystery about power and sex, the entanglement of victim and perpetrator, and a man's struggle to regain his lost self.

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Kidnapper | Dancer | Dance | Male Frontal Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Tom Long	...	Daniel
Greta Scacchi	...	Isabel
Colin Friels	...	Olsen
Deborah Mailman	...	Julie
Zoe Coyle	...	Renate
Nadine Garner	...	Margot
Olivia Pigeot	...	Bernadette
Ana Maria Belo	...	Sally
Belinda McClory	...	Jeanette
Sibylla Budd	...	Deborah
Geneviève Picot	...	Barmaid (as Genevieve Picot)
Nina Liu	...	Vivian
Brian Lipson	...	James
Damien Fotiou	...	Shopkeeper
Marty Fields	...	Charging Officer

Also Known As:

El libro de las revelaciones (Argentina) (DVD title) [es]
To vivlio tis apokalypsis (Greece) (DVD title) [el]

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | UK:18 | Singapore:R21 | New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:18

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Film Finance

Trivia:

The postcard that Daniel sends to Isabel is of Max Dupain's 'Sunbaker' (1937), often regarded as an icon of the healthy Australian man lying in rest.

Soundtrack:

Abbaon Fat

Strong stuff, but a weak finish

This is not your typical Australian movie, despite its government funding. It could have come from a European art-house director and its location in Melbourne seems incidental (I think the original book by Rupert Thomson was set in Amsterdam). It is also not a movie for the nervous – at times it is very tense indeed and the cutting and soundtrack seem designed to keep the audience on edge. As Daniel the male dancer abducted and sexually abused by three hooded women, Tom Long gives an intense, if slightly monolithic, performance. Daniel's lines give him little scope for expressing his feelings, it is only in dance that he can do that, and the rest of the time he acts rather than thinks. On the other hand his physical appearance dominates the film – we are seeing essentially his view of things.

The abuse scenes were not as bad as I had feared, and were relatively short. They were pornographic, I think, only to people like the hooded women. And here's the problem. A handsome heterosexual man captured by three young women and forced to have sex with them? No wonder the cops laugh when Daniel tries to tell them what happened. What is it about Daniel that moves them to do this? He was not chosen at random. He's a fit accomplished young male dancer, someone of physical beauty and grace. Why do these women need to humiliate and degrade him? No doubt the director Ana Kokkinos wants us to ask this question but we are not provided with many clues towards an answer. All we are told by the hooded ones is that "it is for our pleasure". Well, if they are sadists, I suppose it makes sense but I don't think it tells us anything about relationships between men and women generally.

Even so, the whole thing is pretty well done, and we do get a very clear picture of the devastating impact abuse of this nature can have on a person. The revelation, I suppose, is Daniel's loss of both innocence and self-regard. Ana Kokkinos proved in "Head On" that she can mix atmosphere and action though this film is quieter overall. Tom Long gets good support from Greta Scacchi, never better, as his dancing mistress, and Colin Friels gives a quiet and convincing portrait of an understanding policeman ( a very rare beast). As Daniel's girlfriend, Anna Torv's performance is curiously flat – her character is underwritten and her impassive good looks convey little but emptiness. Deborah Mailman also puts in a good performance in a small role as the girl who helps Daniel recover from his ordeal. But the portentous (or is it pretentious) atmosphere dissolves to a banal ending, almost on the same level as a "Twisted Tale" (a Channel 9 TV series of mordant but slight stories) – the motivation for a routine assault is explained.

The screening I saw was sparsely attended and I don't think this film will do well, which is a pity. Ana Kokkinos is a talented filmmaker and it would be interesting to see what she could do with more mainstream material. Art-house Street can be a bit of a cul-de-sac.