O Livro Das Revelações

"The book of revelation" is one of those films that make you feel you had a great loss. It has a very interesting & original story, the right mood and some brilliant actors. However, one can not escape the feeling that something went completely wrong with the entire piece.

The film tells the bizarre story of Daniel, a dancer that's been kidnapped by 3 women and has been sexually abused by them for 12 days. well, I must say that for some men this is a dream rather than a nightmare... but on the serious side, I was quite disappointed by the kidnappers and the director, Ana Kokinnos. because as long as I remember, they were trying to make a thriller here, so where's the thrill?? the abusement scenes are not that terrible, but much more on the erotic side, what makes this film look as a cheap sexploitation based movie. Sexual provocacy was probably much more important for the director than a real delve into the humiliated man position thing. That goes for both male and female characters and scenes. I am not against nudity, but a film like that has got to have another dimension to it, except the sexual and kinky one, and this dimension lacks from the entire movie. plus, add the very expressionist lighting and photography, and the result is just another artsy fartsy film that has the appeal of a more serious one.

We don't really know anything about Daniel. when I think about the movie now, I dare to ask: was this all a dream? what about his relationship with one of the dancers from the group? they live together, but are they married? did he have a romantic or sexual relationship with his dancing coach, the beautiful and mature Isabelle? was he suffering a mental disorder prior to the kidnapping? we don't have answers to these questions in the film. you could say it's OK, and in a way it is OK, but not really...

But not everything is wrong here. actor Tom Long gives a monumental performance, both as a dancer and the tormented Daniel, who tries to reveal the identity of his lady kidnappers, and to restore his own mental life. and of course the wonderful Greta Scacchi, in a great supporting role.

To sum things up: if you're looking for a good thriller for your weekly DVD night, get something else. if you've already taken this film be prepared for some hot nudity, expressionist misery and mental torment scenes, fake provocacy and an unsuccessful attempt to create a Michael Haneke like thriller, where the hero is not the mystery itself, but the main character's way to deal with what happened to him. and believe me, there are better films than this one. for instance, "Cache", by the original Haneke himself, or "Swimming pool", by Francois Ozon.

Well, we are all used to watching torture flicks where men torture women; MARTYRS, GUINEA PIG, AUGUST UNDERGROUND etc... Now how about we turn the tables around and have the women torture the man? Nice idea, but this movie has a few problems.

First off, this movie is pretty tame compared to the other Torture flicks, but that does not matter. What matter is that the movie really drags at the end, it seems so forced and out of place. When the torture scenes ended, i just stopped caring, because that was the point of the whole movie; why and how did these 3 women torture our hero?

This movie deals with a lot of themes: Paranoia, Trauma, Anxiety, Fear and such... And i can say that the movie for the most part is solid. However, after all the torture scenes ended, the movie just feels so forced, the movie didn't really have to be nearly 2 hours long. I am sure they could of made it shorter like 1 hour 30 minutes long and it would of been better.

Ultimately i can sort of recommend this movie, it is better then Guinea Pig, and August Underground (Since this movie actually has a plot), but it's not as good as Martyrs or Hostel.

Well, we are all used to watching torture flicks where men torture women; MARTYRS, GUINEA PIG, AUGUST UNDERGROUND, etc... Now how about we turn the tables around and have the women torture the man? Nice idea, but this movie has a few problems.

First off, this movie is pretty tame compared to the other Torture flicks, but that does not matter. What matter is that the movie really drags at the end, it seems so forced and out of place. When the torture scenes ended, I just stopped caring, because that was the point of the whole movie; why and how did these 3 women torture our hero?

This movie deals with a lot of themes: Paranoia, Trauma, Anxiety, Fear, and such... And i can say that the movie for the most part is solid. However, after all the torture scenes ended, the movie just feels so forced, the movie didn't really have to be nearly 2 hours long. I am sure they could of made it shorter like 1 hour 30 minutes long and it would of been better.

Ultimately i can sort of recommend this movie, it is better than Guinea Pig, and August Underground (Since this movie actually has a plot), but it's not as good as Martyrs or Hostel.

I just wish that they made a movie in that we see the past and future in the start and that in the end, we see the torture, I think that would be way more impactful than what we just had. (That's just my opinion). Just like how in Martyrs, the last scenes are the torture scenes of Anna, which is what makes the movie have such an impact.

While walking to buy cigarettes, the professional dancer Daniel (Tom Long) is abducted and forced to have kinky sex along many days by three hooded women. When he is released, the director of his company Isabel (Greta Scacchi) has already replaced him in the play and his girlfriend gives a cold reception to him. The disturbed and humiliated Daniel leaves the dance company and travels obsessed to seek out the abductors. Daniel has sex with many women that he suspects that might be the kidnappers.

"The Book of Revelation" is a weird movie with a promising beginning that loses the initial power and becomes a sort of too long erotic soap- opera or soft-porn chic. The production is classy, the cover of the DVD is awesome but the characters are not well-developed and the trauma of Daniel seems to be excessive since most of the men would fantasize with the dream-situation that he was submitted – to become sexual object of three sexy women. The melodramatic development with the illness of Isabel does not add any value to the plot; the open conclusion is very disappointing and there are no explanations for the motive of the women or the title. It is very clear that the screenplay about a man's feelings was written by a woman. It was good to see the still beautiful Greta Scacchi again and her make-up in the end is impressive. There is a saying in Portuguese that could be translated to English as follows: "If the rape is inevitable, relax and come." Daniel should have done this and spared me of watching almost two hours of a pointless story. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Livro das Revelações" ("The Book of Revelations")

Hands down worst Australian movie I've seen. This film is ultra garbage. Tries to be arty. Tries to be deep. Fails.

This film stinks.

Many questions arise about the making of this film. The first of which is: Why make a film that plays out as little more than an awkward female fantasy? It's one thing to leave an audience with issues to discuss about a film's intent, it's something entirely different to go into the process of writing a script which fails to adequately address real human issues before they are rendered on the screen.

Why the outrageously melodramatic and often comical soundtrack? Why the excessive and frequently clunky dialogue? Why is the lead character's girlfriend one of the hooded abductors? What purpose is there to turning the lead character's freedom from abduction into a joke by having him complete his "mission"? (This is a classic Little Aussie Film moment. Resort to quirky comedy at the most inappropriate moment.) Why so many scenes where absolutely nothing happens? (This accounts for approximately 15 minutes of the film, which is at least 30 minutes too long.) Why, if a man is imprisoned for so many days, does he not endeavor to make a serious attempt at escape?

The Director, who co-wrote the script, has failed on many counts to deliver a satisfactory story.

Dave Garver, Australia.