It is mostly set in the late 1990s when Demond Tutu led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa established in 1996 to investigate what had happened during Apartheid through public hearings of stories of victims and perpetrators. It also gave the opportunity of amnesty for some perpetrators of violence against Blacks.
The film begins with two flashbacks that set arcs for what happens later in the movie. One involves the childhood of a violent former police security officer, Piet Blomfeld (Eric Bana). Blomfeld was an Afrikaner nationalist who participated in death squad atrocities. The second is Mrs. Morobe (Thandi Makhubele) whose daughter disappeared in the early 1990s. She hopes to learn what happened in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.
Blomfeld is in prison, but writes a letter to Desmond Tutu (Forest Whitaker) asking for amnesty. Tutu is struck by his erudite writing and goes to Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town to meet him. Blomfeld harangues Tutu in racist language, but Tutu responds with calm. Most of the film focuses on this developing relationship, and the slow evolution of Blomfeld's perspective after Tutu provides him a reminder of Blomfeld's early childhood. Blomfeld's relationship with Tutu leads to a reaction by some of Blomfeld's former Afrikaner colleagues, including the prison guard, Froncois Schmidt (Jeff Gum). The last 30 minutes of the film contain most of the drama and "action" in the movie.
This is a hard movie to rate. It is very word-dense in the interactions between Tutu and the fictional composite character, Blomfeld. There should have been more character development around Blomfeld's childhood, and in the context of Mrs. Morobe's daughter's disappearance. It would have added life to the script. I'm also not sure Forest Whitaker was the best actor to play Tutu. Too often I thought this is an actor trying to play Tutu.
On the other hand, many of the difficult issues of Apartheid are faced squarely, in words if not visually.
The film begins with two flashbacks that set arcs for what happens later in the movie. One involves the childhood of a violent former police security officer, Piet Blomfeld (Eric Bana). Blomfeld was an Afrikaner nationalist who participated in death squad atrocities. The second is Mrs. Morobe (Thandi Makhubele) whose daughter disappeared in the early 1990s. She hopes to learn what happened in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.
Blomfeld is in prison, but writes a letter to Desmond Tutu (Forest Whitaker) asking for amnesty. Tutu is struck by his erudite writing and goes to Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town to meet him. Blomfeld harangues Tutu in racist language, but Tutu responds with calm. Most of the film focuses on this developing relationship, and the slow evolution of Blomfeld's perspective after Tutu provides him a reminder of Blomfeld's early childhood. Blomfeld's relationship with Tutu leads to a reaction by some of Blomfeld's former Afrikaner colleagues, including the prison guard, Froncois Schmidt (Jeff Gum). The last 30 minutes of the film contain most of the drama and "action" in the movie.
This is a hard movie to rate. It is very word-dense in the interactions between Tutu and the fictional composite character, Blomfeld. There should have been more character development around Blomfeld's childhood, and in the context of Mrs. Morobe's daughter's disappearance. It would have added life to the script. I'm also not sure Forest Whitaker was the best actor to play Tutu. Too often I thought this is an actor trying to play Tutu.
On the other hand, many of the difficult issues of Apartheid are faced squarely, in words if not visually.