The Book of Revelation

Well they said it was more about being thought provoking than being a box office hit and they were right. The Book of Revelation was incredibly hard to sit through - both because of its slow pace and its confronting themes - but so very worthwhile.

Beautifully crafted, the movie is not for everyone, especially if you've been the victim of sexual abuse.

The movie sets out to explore a range of issues and themes and it wasn't until the day after I saw it (today) that many of them dawned on me (and even then it was only prompted by reading an interview with the Director, Ana Kokkinos). I suspect that I'll be experiencing more of these revelations (pun intended) for quite some time.

One of the themes of "The Book of Revelation" is sex and power. There are some very confronting and disturbing scenes where the male lead is sexually abused by three cloaked and masked women. One of my female friends who I saw the movie with said afterward that she didn't feel any of the discomfort she usually feels when she sees a rape scene on the screen and wondered if it was purely because it was a man being raped. This is one of those areas that the movie gets you thinking about.

It's hard to watch but I highly recommend seeing it.

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.

Book of Revelations starts very well. Daniel, an egomaniac dancer is kidnapped, abused and sexually raped by three masked women.

After that, nothing else really happens. There is some hint of rediscovery but the movie gives nor explanation nor a real ending. Daniel reactions after the abuse are very basic. He quits dancing, has sex with every women around and finally starting a relation with very simple and common woman.

I have seen a good share of art-house movies but this has something missing in it.

The main leads are fine; but some characters does not seems to be completely defined.

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.

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.