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Proteus (2003)
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Overview
User Rating:
Plot:
An interracial gay love story set in early 18th century South Africa about two men -- a black prisoner living in a Cape Town penal colony and a Dutch sailor -- who weather injustices as a result of their affair. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
1 nomination moreUser Comments:
Missed it by that much moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Rouxnet Brown | ... | Claas Blank |
 | Shaun Smyth | ... | Virgil Niven |
 | Neil Sandilands | ... | Rijkhaart Jacobz |
| Kristen Thomson | ... | Kate |
| Tessa Jubber | ... | Elize |
| Terry Norton | ... | Betsy |
| Adrienne Pierce | ... | Tinnie (as Adrienne Pearce) |
| Grant Swanby | ... | Willer |
| Brett Goldin | ... | Lourens |
| A.J. van der Merwe | ... | Settler |
| Dean Lotz | ... | Governor |
| Jeroen Kranenburg | ... | Scholz |
| Johan Jacobs | ... | Nama Prisoner |
| Katrina Kaffer | ... | Kaness |
| Kwanda Malunga | ... | Claas (age 10) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
Canada:100 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:97 minColor:
ColorSound Mix:
Dolby SRCertification:
UK:15FAQ
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At the heart of Proteus is a great story - actually two great stories - about the oppression of homosexuality during the 18th century. The main "love" story between Claas and the sailor has the makings of a very dramatic story if told well.
Where the movie went wrong, IMO, was mixing costuming, sets and props from different eras. I "get" what the director was trying to do - show us that these problems exist today as much as they did 300 years ago. But the visual jarring of seeing the modern next to the historical kept knocking me out of the plot. Halfway through the movie, I was wondering if this really was a directorial choice or simply a way to reduce costs by using readily available stuff rather than recreating the time period.
The secondary story about Virgil never takes off. We are supposed to juxtapose his life with Claas' and see how Claas becomes more accepting of his homosexuality, or at least "love" for another man, while Virgil becomes more closeted as the oppression begins. I never could figure out if Lorenz was Virgil's lover or just a gay friend.
In many ways, this movie would have been better served as a straightforward historical drama than attempting to take on multiple plots and risktaking direction.