Simply Perfect

A Masterpiece!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Made in the bad old days of South Africa, it tells of an English school teacher cum apartheid fighter who tries to understand his country amidst his own wasted personal life. The film isn't propaganda to be sure, even though it clearly has political motivations. The teacher only wants to fight with the pen and failing to follow through with a bad situation he lets a few innocents die. The narrative revolves around the teacher's thoughts on people and politics and the plot merely serves to set up scenes where he can, well, think some more. The film uses camera movement sparingly and the dialogue is realistic as is the film honest. A very good SA film from a great director.