credit: Alliance-Atlantis
Director:
Phillip Noyce
Cast:
Tim Robbins ………. Nic Vos
Derek Luke ………. Patrick Chamusso
Bonnie Henna ………. Precious Chamusso
Mncedisi Shabangu ………. Zuko September
Tumisho K. Masha ………. Obadi
While the Apartheid ended in South Africa 15 years ago, a new film by director Phillip Noyce highlights its importance in a current context through the story of one real-life hero. The result is a must-see film.
Catch A Fire is the powerful true story of Patrick Chamusso. Played brilliantly by Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher), Chamusso seems to have the perfect life. He is married to his beautiful wife Precious (Bonnie Henna) and is the proud father of two daughters. He works as a foreman at the Secunda oil refinery and also coaches a local boys’ soccer team. While the political times in his country and completely turbulent, Chamusso is anything but.
When Chamusso takes his soccer team to a game, it is revealed that the film’s protagonist leads a secret life, with another woman and a son. The clandestine visit is one that brings him many more problems than a jealous spouse. On the night of his departure from home, the security at the oil refinery is breached in an attack by the African National Congress (an outlawed activist organization whose primary mandate is to rally blacks against the apartheid movement) and Chamusso becomes the lead suspect.
Under intense questioning by Colonel Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) from the Police Security Branch, Chamusso refuses to give up his alibi, knowing that it would be a fatalistic blow to his Precious, withstanding beating after beating. His tenacity is tested but he only relents after learning that his wife is also being tortured. Chamusso accepting the blame for setting a bomb that he didn’t, is the film’s turning point. While Vos finally accepts his alibi, the torture of his wife stuns Chamusso into action and causes him to become exactly what he was accused of.
The result is a full-circle journey for the lead character and a moving picture of self-discovery and the difference that one man can make.
While there are many facets of the film to be appreciated, the strong acting is at the forefront. Suggestions are already being made about Derek Luke receiving a nod from the Academy. Robbins, who was already awarded with an Oscar for Mystic River is also very good in Catch A Fire. His character is simple but flawed, rich but poor. Robbins portrays the divergence with vigor.
There is also something to be said for Noyce’s use of the scenery and atmosphere in the film which shot in many locations including Johannesburg, Germiston, Attridgeville, Witbank, Pretoria, Yeoville, Embalenhle and Cape Town. The second unit also shot in Mozambique and Swaziland. The imagery plays a strong role in conveying the emotion of the movement.
Similarly, the music employed in the movie is akin to the sound of the period. Noyce enlisted the help of David Mbatha and Napthali Manana, South African locales who were both members of the ANC during Apartheid. Their influence resonates throughout the movie and adds an unparalleled degree of authenticity, especially to the soundtrack. Mbatha was an expert on the “freedom songs” of South Africa and these play a critical role in scene differentiation.
Finally, the movie is worth watching, just for the story of Patrick Chamusso himself. Screenwriter Shawn Slovo (the daughter of Joe Slovo, former head of the military wing of the ANC and a former cabinet member of Nelson Mandela’s government), has said that her father told him to tell Patrick’s story because it was one that was symbolic. Slovo has said that Chamusso is the atypical hero. An ordinary man who did extraordinary things with no political history in his background.
There are many reasons to go to a movie. Perhaps it is a night out with a girlfriend. Maybe it’s to get away from a girlfriend. You could just feel like laughing, or crying, or being scared. If you feel like a film that will rivet you from beginning to end, leave you with a powerful message and let you enjoy
The question is not if you are going to see Catch A Fire, but when you are going to. It is a film that captures the very essence of its title and more than adequately catches the fiery times of a turbulent country in a tumultuous time.
