The Book of Revelation (2006)

Sure, I like some indie films. A lot, actually. I don't always understand them, and that's okay. Not all of them were meant to be understood, especially by mainly main-stream people like me. I'm probably showing my ignorance, but I'm still puzzled why 'Book of Revelation' is called that. I love those end-of-world stories and the only thing I could see similar to the end of the world and this film was the torture it took to get through this. I'm not talking about the subject matter; perhaps I've been subdued from all the other torture/porn I've seen. It was just the incredibly slow story, one hour 15 minute material stretched for nearly two hours. (Major spoilers lie ahead) Hetero-man dancer gets abducted, seduced and raped six ways from Sunday, or in this case 12 days, by three hooded women. Upon his release, after his somewhat distraught dancer/girlfriend barely flinches (other than dropping a glass) after wondering which she missed more: him or the cigarettes she originally sent him for upon abduction. Still in a state of reasonable shock, he refuses to talk, and she goes on to work without so much a hug as if nothing happened and he takes a well needed shower. Problem. As much as he's tormented through the flashbacks to his, uh, "attacks," he's as equally aroused. Granted, I haven't been bound and used as a plaything, but I doubt I would really "be in the mood." Oh, I forgot, and how does he try and solve this crime? Sleep with as many women as he can to try and spot the birthmarks or tats the criminals had. I see where they're going with it – show a gang rape from the male POV. Fine, twist notwithstanding, you could never feel for this guy. Only saving grace was the good acting of the LifetimeTV Dancer/Cancer Instructor. But even she couldn't save the film.

You'd be forgiven if you thought that this movie was nothing more than the final chapter of the biblical text. Although itself based on a novel, this is a far cry from doomsday, though for the lead character, his life has been made a living hell for the sheer psychological and physical torture he goes through even after his unfortunate ordeal. And it does provoke some thought into the issues it put on screen, though it doesn't provide any answers, which I suppose in a real world equivalent, it's likely to remain under wraps too, for the shame.There are many movies out there which deal with and center around the topic of rape. But this would probably mark the first time I've watched a movie where the male lead gets set upon by a gang of three masked females, who for the protection of their identity, prefer to keep their kinky sexual exploits from perhaps each other as well. In fact, their dressing is so well designed, that they have openings for their eyes, and a flap to expose their mouths for the purpose of providing pleasure. And being clothed for the most parts, it prevents the victim from trying to identify any tell-tale signs like tattoos, birthmarks or moles.Tom Long (no offence, but what a name, really) plays Daniel, a renowned dance practitioner under the tutelage of Isabel (Greta Scacchi). To Isable, Daniel is her star, and she fiercely guards her protégé, up until he decided to go around a corner and buy a packet of cigarettes for his fiancé, that he gets kidnapped, and the production has to rely on a stand-in. Daniel of course returns, but returns as a changed man. Meek, irritable, and with a feeling that he's lost his skills. He becomes obsessed, and we slowly learn why - he's become a victim of a gang rape by an all female trio, who in their own words, just want to see him perform a dance for them privately, failing which the punishment is... rape.To justify its R21 rating, we're given a full blown account for Daniel's inexplicable disappearance from the normal world he's used to, and now find himself chained to a dark basement like an animal, responding to the whims and fancies of his captors as they take turns to deal with him up his rear. And to a hunky, muscular guy, I suppose this would be a breaking down of resistance, as the power play between the captors and the captive turn psychological, and at times blurring the lines whether Daniel is actually enjoying his current situation.Wait a minute, who in the right mind would enjoy being in such a situation? Here's where the crux of some of the issues are. Can a man be raped (obviously if against his wishes, yes), and what's with the stigma of having such a stain? Is it hard to imagine the kind of reaction for a guy to make a report and say "Excuse me Mr officer, but I've been raped for days repeatedly by three women wearing masks"? While we can easily understand and sympathize with female victims, could we say and feel the same for a male one, especially one who potentially has the propensity to fight back? Hard to fathom of course, which speaks volumes when the screening I'm in had its fair share of walkouts from amongst the full house audience.But in a tale of two halves, the other showcases Daniel's struggle to try and rebuild a normal life, but again, with such a traumatizing event that he experienced, it does turn some screws loose, as he begins to suspect and mistrust, just like female victims would, all women whom he encounters and who in his estimates, fit the bill of his kidnappers, for reasons none other than vengeance. I thought the second half was more engaging than its earlier portion as it boiled down to an individual struggle, and with an ending that spoke volumes for the things left unsaid. Not an easy movie to sit through given its pace and storyline, but you do get plenty of discussion topics when you emerge from the theatre.

"A secret he would not share. An obsession he could not control. A mystery he dare not resolve." This is TBOR's "grand" tagline. The mystery and the secret aren't nearly as good as you'd hoped for. The movie's premise is just a big, empty promise that turns out to be a typical movie-poster lie.TBOR certainly works very well in the first 20-30 minutes, while the disappearance of the dancer is still a total mystery. Frankly, it should have stayed that way, because the "revelation" was a bit of a joke. Turns out Long was being raped and tortured by three young women. Is that it?, I thought. No mysterious cult, no aliens, no demons, no underground organization, no travelers from the past - just 3 horny women looking for perverted fun. How disappointing. I'd have preferred any of the just-mentioned clichés to this. However, even this puff-of-smoke "big secret" could have sufficed as a basis for a solid mystery/thriller. Alas, it isn't one. The filmmakers opted to turn this into a psychological drama. YAWN.Most of the movie is Long shooting in the dark as he tries to find his female captors. The worst part is that he fails. Even worse than that, WE the viewers never find out anything more than he does. The film ends with cop Friels telling Long to "start from the beginning". What a scam; it's the sort of cop-out ending (with a cop, no less) that almost anyone can come up with. To cop out during the writing process is the easiest solution. The hard option is to actually rack your brains, trying to come up with a unique or interesting twist, or at least a story with a beginning, middle and end. This is definitively an example of very lazy writing. And how does one mask lazy writing? One calls it a "psychological, meditative drama with a message". It's always easy to fool the sheep; after all, the likes of Picasso and Bunuel have been doing it for years. Create nothing and then rationalize it with empty semantics and other well-improvised nonsense. Art in its very nature offers a great opportunity for charlatans to exist in it. It takes a clear and unpretentious head to weed out the crap.Of course a woman would direct and co-write a movie about women who rape a man. It's a role-reversal thing-a-ma-jig sorta deal, like, don't you know? Very deep, like, socially relevant, like, message, that is meant to, like, make us think a bit about the role of women in society and stuff, like, guyeee. The whole victim thing put upside down on its blonde head, like, wow! So deep and stuff. Feminist power!Tom Long is pretty good in the lead role, though. He vaguely resembles the young Malcolm McDowell. There are several actresses from the terrible TV drama series "The Secret Life Of Us" (the hospital nurse and the aborigine girl), which the director was also involved in, plus Nina Liu who starred in a 90s teen Aussie series. This Liu is very attractive and should have been given a bigger role in the movie.Speaking of Liu, if one is to place suspicion on anyone, it's her. She had left Long, just as he was sent to pick up cigarettes. But what's the point in speculating? Clearly, the filmmakers themselves have no clue, i.e. haven't decided who the perpetrators are, so why bother. The end-credits state that one of the three robed women was played by none other than the actress who plays Long's girlfriend. But I'm sure this was merely the director saving money by using a person to play two roles. After all, there is no way that Long could fail to recognize his girlfriend's eyes, voice, breasts, or legs for entire 12 days; they'd been together for 3 years before his abduction.I didn't think that the pornographic nature of some of the scenes was necessary for the story. I believe this choice had more to do with the director's own sexual fantasies and living them out on the screen than anything else that she might come up as an excuse with - something undoubtedly very "deep". Charlatan.In fact, the TV series "The Secret Life Of Us" (no secrets there, though) which Kokkanis also worked on has a barely concealed strain of anti-male sentiment throughout it. This leads me to speculate that the female director particularly enjoyed filming the vibrator-rape scene. Did she drool while filming it? I have no idea what the title of the movie has to do with anything.Still, an Aussie drama without a left-wing political message. That doesn't happen very often these days...

"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.