Sainted love
The long-awaited Mandela film is about a man, a woman, and a passion that could not last
MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM THE most impressive aspect of this film is the commitment of producer Anant Singh. He acquired the rights from Nelson Mandela more than 16 years ago, and since then there have been 30 drafts of the script by various writers.
Inevitably, South African pundits grumbled about the actors Singh chose. They wanted a South African to play Mandela, but Singh was smart enough to choose British actor Idris Elba, who handles the role with honesty and power.
However, the best performance is that of Naomie Harris, a British actress who portrays Winnie Mandela with intensity and skill. Winnie believed that she could create a new, different life, far away from the impoverished “locations”. Then Mandela was tried and imprisoned. Winnie survived her own traumatic jail term, and Harris portrays her with a sense of roiling anger.
For me, the core of the film is about how the passion that the Mandelas shared dissipated as they moved away from each other. It’s about courage, honesty and one man’s determination to live by his own deep convictions. SCHUKS! YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU THIS is Leon Schuster’s 15th film and he has gone back to the original candid camera format that made him a hit. He still works with director Grey Hofmeyr but in this film he has a son, played by Rob van Vuuren, and the two of them create a string of broad, genuinely funny pranks.
The big moment is when Schuster, in blackface as an ANC official, goes to Reiger Park, an impoverished community where residents are protesting because there is no clean, running water. It is Schuster at his sharpest.
BEFORE MIDNIGHT THIS is a sequel to Before Sunrise and
Before Sunset. In the first film, in 1995, Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke), are two young people who meet on a train. In the early hours they walk through the streets of Vienna, and when the sun rises, they go their different ways. In 2004, Celine and Jesse meet once again and spend a sentimental day in Paris. In the third film, nine years later, they are married with children. Jesse has become an admired author, while Celine is a stay-at-home mom. On a whim they go to Greece, with no kids and no editors to annoy them. They are now middle-aged, and they wonder if their relationship has worn down to breaking point. This film is a statement about love and honesty that is odd but quite wonderful.