Catch A Fire

I’ve just seen a special screening of Catch A Fire introduced by its Director, Philip Noyce. It is one of the best movies about the struggle against Apartheid that I have seen. The era and settings have been recreated with great accuracy and attention to detail. Even down to the television set on which the security police monitored their interrogations. It was an old Philips set exactly like the one my parents had when I was growing up.

Philip spoke about the many advisors that contributed to getting the details right, including the ex-security police officer who helped Tim Robbins with his role. The movie was funded by Working Title, a vast departure from their blockbuster rom-com fare, such as Bridget Jones and Four Weddings.

This is a true story about the life of Patrick Chamusso, convincingly played by Derek Luke, an innocent man turned into a terrorist by the very forces that tried to quash terrorism. Although I lived through this time in South Africa I cannot reliably vouch for the authenticity of the events. We were carefully shielded by state censorship from what was really going on. Philip mentioned that when the film was recently screened at the South African embassy in London many in the audience commented that this portrayal of the brutality of the regime was in fact too mild. The movie is yet to be shown in South Africa and he is expecting a mixed reaction.

He was also concerned that the film would have difficulty ‘finding its audience’ and encouraged us to recommend it to our friends if we enjoyed it. I can do so without hesitation. Its at times a hard film to watch, but the ending, with its message of forgiveness, is uplifting and inspiring, as is the work that Patrick Chamusso continues to do with orphans at the Two Sisters charity that he founded (www.twosisters.org.za). It is based in north-east South Africa and supports orphans of the AIDS epidemic that is devastating much of the African continent. Patrick and Conney, his young wife, settled in Mganduzweni, a beautiful but poor town in the hills outside White River. A neighbour in their village died, and her two daughters were orphaned. Patrick and Conney fostered the two sisters. That was in 1999. Today they have 76 children in their care.