Steve Jacobs Movies

John Malkovich stars in director Steve Jacobs' adaptation of J.M. Coetzee's Booker Prize-winning novel concerning a Cape Town educator whose flight from scandal leads him into a direct confrontation with the lingering demons of apartheid. Fastidious Cape Town college professor David Lurie (Malkovich) may see himself as somewhat impervious, but he's about to bring about his own downfall due to a selfish and foolhardy relationship with a student who isn't afraid to drag their clandestine affair screaming into the light. When controversy erupts on campus as a result of the affair, David beats a hasty retreat to the countryside in order to lie low on his daughter Lucy's (Jessica Haines) remote farm in the Eastern Cape. However, David's fears for his daughter's isolation are soon confirmed when father and daughter are violently attacked by three black youths. In the aftermath of the horrific siege, David is deeply shaken to learn that one of their assailants is in fact a relative of trusted worker Petrus (Eriq Ebouaney), who lives peacefully alongside Lucy in the South African brush, and has even begun constructing a home at the edge of her property. Can these people somehow find grace in a country that's still struggling with its tragic history, or is that history destined to repeat itself forever into the future? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A coming-of-age tale set in the 1960s, La Spagnola is the first feature from Australian actor Steve Jacobs. Using a mixture of Spanish and Italian, the film chronicles a group of immigrants from the Mediterranean who have arrived in Australia to settle in communities out of the way of mainstream society. Lucia (Alice Ansala) lives with her mother Lola (Lola Marceli) next to an oil refinery after her father Ricardo (Simon Palomare) has abandoned them for the blonde, Australian Wendy (Helen Thomson). Lucia resents her mother for her father's absence, and they are left nearly broke after he neglects to give them money. Lola finds herself pregnant by Ricardo later and decides to self-induce an abortion with a knitting needle. Lucia begins to earn money as a doctor's interpreter, even though he is unaware of the differences in languages that exist. In an unforeseen event, Ricardo is killed in an accident. He bequeaths everything to his new girlfriend, leaving Lucia and Lola to fend for themselves in their offbeat, unpredictable society. The film was written by sometime actress Anna-Maria Monticelli. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi