The Book Of Revelation
Director: Ana Kokkinos
Rated: R
Palace Nova cinemas
Now screening

In this world of conformist cinema, it is refreshing to find a rebel like Ana Kokkinos. Anyone who saw 'Head On' knows that Kokkinos relishes the opportunity to confront her audience. While the screenplay by Kokkinos and Andrew Bovell of 'The Book Of Revelation' is an adaptation of Rupert Thomson's novel, the film bears Kokkinos's distinctive provocative stamp.

Daniel (Tom Long) and his girlfriend Bridget (Anna Torv) are principal dancers in a Melbourne company directed by Isabel (Greta Scacchi). On the afternoon of the premiere of the latest production, Daniel disappears after going out to buy Bridget a packet of cigarettes. Twelve days later, he is dumped alive in open scrub next to a train line. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that Daniel was abducted by three women and held as their sexual and artistic slave. Unable to reconnect with his past, he leaves Bridget and the company, and sets off obsessively on a bizarre sexual odyssey in order to find his captors.

Iconoclastically, Kokkinos tears down convention about gender and sexuality reducing everything to power and ego. Daniel and his captors engage in a series of retaliatory battles of sexual degradation. He taunts them as he masturbates that "when a man fucks a woman, he always shuts his eyes and thinks of himself". The women respond by fucking him with a strap-on.

Daniel considers himself a victim, but the boundaries between victim and predator in the film are problematic. Does Daniel search for the women because he is wounded or seduced by the battle and chasing victory? Kokkinos also links sexuality and ego to the creative process. At the beginning, Daniel's choreography is cocky and aggressive. After his abduction, it becomes internalised and tortured. The women not only want Daniel sexually- they demand that he dance for them too and expose his soul.

Kokkinos directs sharply and doesn't waste a frame in turning Melbourne into a dark and treacherous dreamscape. Taking his lead from Harvey Keitel, Long gives a brave performance baring all. It's pleasing to see Scacchi back in a substantial role and Colin Friels and Deborah Mailman both have meaty supporting roles.

Expect to leave this film unsettled and without resolution. Did the women damage him and leave permanent scars or did they merely expose the true Daniel and give him reign to fully express his latent savagery? This film will polarise audiences and hopefully the censor devils won't pounce on the nudity and sex scenes. 'The Book Of Revelation' is the best Australian film I've seen this year. Judge it for yourself before political polemic sweeps it away.

Mal Byrne