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 THE
QUARRY (First
Run Features) 1998. Mystery/suspense. Approx. 112 minutes. Mostly in
English, little Afrikaans with English subtitles. NR, mild violence.
Outside a small, isolated South African town, a man is desperately
running from someone. Exhausted, tired, and hungry, our man on the run
seeks the help of a Baptist Reverend who is on his way to run a small
church in an even smaller town. After fighting off several sexual
advances, The Man (he has no name) kills the Reverend, takes on his
identity, and proceeds to the town. After successfully fooling the town
into believing he is the new Reverend, the town’s folk unknowingly
accept the fugitive with open arms, and hearts. Just as The Man starts to
relax, the police Captain finds the dead body and arrests two local petty
thieves for the murder. Can The Man keep his secret, or will his guilt
take over and force him to come clean?
I know my synopsis is kind of vague, but I
honestly didn’t want to give too much away. The movie runs rather
slowly, but the pacing is deliberate to mimic The Man’s struggle with
morality. Popular Irish actor John Lynch (In The Name of The Father) plays
The Man and does a great job portraying his uneasiness with the situation
he has caused. The acting as a whole is really well done. Although the
viewer never really finds out what The Man is running from, the ending
gives you a possibility. With it’s lack of dialog, seemingly lonely
characters, and the “out of the way” location shoots, this flic gave
me a strong feeling of isolation and seclusion. Pretty good flic. –
Denis Sheehan
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