Disgrace (2008)

Disgrace is a 2008 Australian film based on J. M. Coetzee's novel of the same name. It was adapted for the screen by Anna Maria Monticelli and directed by her husband Steve Jacobs. Starring American actor John Malkovich and South African newcomer Jessica Haines, it tells the story of a South African university professor in the post-apartheid era who moves to his daughter's Eastern Cape farm when his affair with a student costs him his position.

The film premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Prize of the International Critics. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Synopsis

David Lurie (John Malkovich) is an ageing white professor teaching Romantic literature at an unnamed university in Cape Town shortly after the end of apartheid. David rapes one of his students, Melanie Isaacs (Antoinette Engel). University officials learn of the incident and bring David before a disciplinary board. David's colleagues offer him a quiet exit to save face, but he brashly affirms his guilt and refuses to admit wrongdoing, forcing the board to punish him more harshly.

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