Disgrace (2008)
76%RT Audience Score: 62%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 3 nominations
Featuring outstanding performances from John Malkovich and newcomer Jessica Haines, Disgrace is a disturbing, powerful drama
Disgrace, the movie adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s novel, has received mixed reviews from critics. Some praised the film’s faithful adaptation and superb performances, while others found it solid but unadventurous. One critic even commented on the director’s blunt technique that flattened the book’s morose charge. However, if you’re a fan of John Malkovich, you’ll be pleased to know that he gives a superb performance in this powerful and intelligent study of a man coming back from the brink. Overall, Disgrace is worth a watch if you’re in the mood for a chilly and thought-provoking drama.
Production Company(ies)
Producers Sales Organization R S L Entertainment, Moviecorp V III
Distributor
Paladin
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Surry Hills, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sexual content, nudity, some violence and brief language
Year of Release
2009
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 58m
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Language(s):English, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Zulu
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 18, 2009 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 27, 2010
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Disgrace, John Malkovich, Jessica Haines, Steve Jacobs, Anna Maria Monticelli, Drama, R, Sexual Content, Nudity, Brief Language, Some Violence, South Africa, Apartheid, Father-Daughter Relationship, Rape, Post-Colonialism, Racism, White Privilege, Booker Prize, Adaptation, Critic Reviews, Box Office, Gross USA, Paladin, Producer, Director, Writer, Reviewed by Aaron Hillis, Ian Nathan, Nina Caplan, Wendy Ide, Peter Bradshaw, Tim Robey, David Harris, Kelly Jane Torrance, Alice Tynan, Edward Porter, Philip French, John Malkovich as David Lurie, Jessica Haines as Lucy, Eriq Ebouaney as Petrus, Fiona Press as Bev, Antoinette Engel as Melanie, Natalie Becker as Soraya
Worldwide gross: $2,291,680
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $3,167,356
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,303
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 345,404
US/Canada gross: $69,705
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $96,340
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,671
US/Canada opening weekend: $12,615
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $17,435
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,560
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $10,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $13,821,107
Production budget ranking: 1,540
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $7,442,666
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$18,096,418
ROI to date (est.): -85%
ROI ranking: 1,924
Jessica Haines – Lucy
Eriq Ebouaney – Petrus
Fiona Press – Bev
Antoinette Engel – Melanie
Natalie Becker – Soraya
Director – Steve Jacobs
Producer – Steve Jacobs, Anna Maria Monticelli
Writer – Anna Maria Monticelli
Director(s)
Steve Jacobs
Writer(s)
Anna Maria Monticelli
Producer(s)
Steve Jacobs, Anna Maria Monticelli
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 3 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (60) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (10)
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 2/5
Aaron Hillis
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Surprisingly successful adaptation.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It’s an enormously complicated story with great potential for reductive schmaltz, but this is avoided thanks to Anna Maria Monticelli’s sharp, sensitive screenplay and superb performances.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Nina Caplan
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
It’s hard to say what this solid but unadventurous film adds to Coetzee’s powerful source material.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Wendy Ide
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A worthwhile film which is concerned to do the right thing by a modern classic.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
It’s a faithful adaptation, but one that’s been indifferently shot by director Steve Jacobs, whose blunt technique tends to flatten the book’s morose charge. Still, the acting is often excellent.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
It is Lurie’s white privilege that is most disturbing…
October 11, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
The Nobel Prize laureate’s cutting novel of sex and power in post-apartheid South Africa has been brought to the big screen with all of the loneliness and most of the intelligence of the novel intact.
December 5, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
Kelly Jane Torrance
Washington Times
Steve Jacobs’ adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning novel Disgrace fearlessly pares back the layers of post-Apartheid South Africa within the microcosm of a father/daughter relationship.
April 19, 2010
Alice Tynan
Rotten Tomatoes
If you know the novel, you’re likely to feel that something has been lost here; if you don’t, you still have the film’s monotonous pacing to contend with. Still, Jacobs has directed an intelligent, intriguing drama.
December 11, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)
This chilly film gets surprisingly close to the tone of Coetzee’s precise prose.
December 11, 2009
Philip French
Observer (UK)
A perfectly cast John Malkovich gives a superb performance in a powerful and intelligent study of a man coming back from the brink.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 3.5/5
Jamie McLeish
Film4…
Plot
Cape Town professor David Lurie blatantly refuses to defend himself for an affair with a colored student whom he gave a passing grade for an exam she didn’t even attend. Dismissed, he moves to his daughter Lucy’s farm, which she runs under most disadvantaged terms, favoring the black locals. Yet rowdies, unprovoked, violently rob and abuse them both. Lucy refuses to fight back, unlike David, who is surprised by his own altruistic potential.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about Disgrace.
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