Betraying and delivering: filming Disgrace

Resumo

While much criticism of film adaptation has focused on issues of fidelity to original literary texts, this article argues that the film version of J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace  ‘betrays’ the original novel through faithfully revealing the tensions and contradictions of the original. The article also examines the ways in which the film attempted to give a more positive portrayal of South Africa through an emphasis on Lucy rather than her father, but points to ways in which the shock of the central violent crime in the film exceeds that in the novel.