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By any measure, Ana Kokkinos's new film tells a bizarre tale. But the strangest thing of all is its Melbourne setting. For once we have an Australian picture that treats sex as the main event. In the downbeat way of Australian film-making, the sex act is so often treated as a joke, an afterthought or something to do instead of going to the gym. It's also a tale that doesn't bear telling. At least that's the way it's regarded by its hero, who is also its victim. He's a dancer and choreographer whose performances have made him moderately famous for his grace and beauty. He is about to open in a new production when he's ambushed, drugged and abducted by three women, their identities concealed by black masks and cloaks, who hold him captive for 12 days, while subjecting him to an array of sexual abuses. When they finally set him free, he's still ignorant of their identities. So it will hardly surprise you to learn that he has difficulty in thinking of a credible way to tell his girlfriend or the police what has happened to him. Instead, he remains silent, transforming injury into obsession. The film is based on a novel by Rupert Thomson, who set the story in Amsterdam, a city where the appearance of three black-robed and hooded women striding along the street may seem unremarkable. In the book, the dancer Daniel (played by Tom Long), thinks he has stumbled on a bit of gothic street theatre until he is jabbed with a hypodermic needle and knocked out. In the film, this event is transferred to a sunny day beside the Yarra and, because of the notoriously laconic character of Australia and Australians, it somehow fails to pack the same punch. In fact, it skids dangerously close to parody. Kokkinos has a formidable talent for the heightened sensation. In the moments leading up to the assault, percussive instruments, fluttering pigeon wings and the magnified ticking of a clock in a shop window are all given Hitchcockian parts to play, but the result adds up to hard work rather than heavy menace - the creation of suspense as an intellectual exercise. Co-written by Kokkinos and Lantana's Andrew Bovell, the script rearranges Thomson's narrative to unfold in gradual flashback the mystery of Daniel's lost days. When he first goes missing, the perspective shifts to those left wondering where he is. There's his lover, Bridget (Anna Torv), who is also his dancing partner - a cool, self-absorbed character whose imperiousness leaves you in no doubt that at least one dominant woman has already muscled her way into his life. And there's Isabel (Greta Scacchi), who runs the dance troupe. His mentor and surrogate mother figure, she's ready to believe he would abandon Bridget, but not his work. There are things to admire about The Book of Revelation. Ana Kokkinos is a real film-maker, and at times her film is a visually stimulating experience: in the dance rehearsal scenes in the beginning with their vibrant colours, in the blacks and greys of the imprisonment scenes, in a late sequence where Daniel pursues a woman he believes to be one of his abusers. The use of sound is excellent as well, from Cesary Skubiszewski’s music score to the directional sound which becomes a plot point.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
I did not like the product at all. I can't get into specifics but I made a huge mistake ordering this particular movie so I just threw it away. Was not happy. It was a waste of my money. Only gave it one star because choosing zero stars was not an option.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
excellent movie and quite shocking. very glad i watched it. i would strongly advise watching the movie. what a classic but eerie tale. i rated it a ten!
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