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Catch a Fire
R2 - United Kingdom - Fabulous Films Review written by and copyright: Matthew Crossman (1st January 2016). |
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The Film
 ‘Catch a Fire’ opens in 1980 at a coal mine in South Africa. Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) is a young, diligent Father who works at the coal mine as a foreman. He has no political views and simply wants to spend his time either with his Wife, Mother and two daughters, coaching his local boys football team or working hard to support his family. The African National Congress (ANC) are hitting the country with a series of terrorist attacks.. Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) is the head of an anti terrorist arm of the security forces and he uses every trick in his armoury to extract confessions from suspected terrorists including torture. Patrick takes his football team to a tournament and is surprised when, thanks to a new young recruit, his team make it through the play offs into the final. The final is being held the following day and Patrick has used up all his holiday entitlement at his work so he telephones his Wife to call in sick for him the next day. The following day his team wins the tournament and after the match he drops the boys off at a school and secretly has a rendezvous with a woman to whom he is having an affair with and has borne him a Son. When Patrick returns to work he discovers than in his absence the ANC has struck at the refinery where he works. During the investigation to the terrorist attack Peter and two friends are arrested in connection with the attack. Patrick cannot explain his absence from the football team without implicating himself about the affair but in the end admits it as his alibi. Vos does not believe him and so brings in Peter’s Wife, Precious (Bonnie Henna) and tortures her. When Peter finds out about the torture of his Wife he confesses to the attack, despite having nothing to do with it, just so Vos will stop torturing Precious. Vos, despite having a confession from Peter, decides to drop all the charges as he now knows Peter is telling the truth. However, the harrowing experience that Peter has gone through makes Peter seek out the ANC with the intention of joining up. Peter travels to Mozambique and is recruited by the ANC but before their next attack can be planned the security forces strike and wipe out a large number of them. This makes Peter even more determined to strike against the Government, and more importantly Vos. What Peter now plans is to strike at the heart of the refinery and destroy the plant altogether. ‘Catch a Fire’ is based on a true story and because of this it is, at times, quite harrowing. By concentrating on a single individual, an individual who had no political bias before he was arrested and tortured, the film can highlight the damage apartheid did on an individual level. What is particularly telling is how the government’s actions in South Africa nearly forty years ago fanned the flames for the recruitment of ANC members rather than dissuade them. Of course, here in 2016, something very similar is happening in regards to disillusioned Muslims in Britain and the attraction of ISIS in the Middle East. Whilst the motives of the ANC and ISIS are completely different the scenario is spookily similar in many respects. The acting from all the lead cast members is universally good. Tim Robbins as the anti terrorist head honcho is particularly well done as he swings from evil government official to loving family man in a blink of an eye. The first thirty minutes of the film is the story of two different but also similar lives, the lives of Vos and Peter, until they connect and with devastating consequences for both men. Derek Luke as Peter is outstanding portraying a loyal but flawed family man who has made mistakes in the past and is trying to learn not to repeat them. Bonnie Henna, as Precious, Peter’s Wife, is equally good. Often put in difficult situations from both sides she must do the best for her two daughters at any cost, even if that cost is a high price that will not be paid by her but by the man she loves, or once loved at least. Apartheid was a wicked thing it’s hard to believe that is was ended just twenty five years ago in South Africa. Anyone who did not live through that period might find it difficult to believe that such things went on but it is all true and that, in itself, is shameful. Thankfully we live in (slightly) more enlightened times but it is always important that, once in a while, we remind ourselves how wicked man can be against his fellow brother, if only so our children do not make the same mistakes. This film is a testament to those times, good and bad.
Video
The film is presented as anamorphic 2.35:1 The quality of the image is acceptable without being impressive. The day scenes are fine and clear and have good definition. The night scenes do not fare as well with the picture being on the soft and smeary side during these times but nothing too alarming. The colours of the film are a shade on the muted side but again, nothing to distract from the enjoyment of the film but nowhere near demo quality.
Audio
The default, and only, choice of audio for ‘Catch a Fire’ is English Dolby Digital 5.1. The soundtrack is not overly energetic and only when the terrorists bombs are exploded does the sub woofer really come to life. The sound is perhaps not as sharp as it should have been and passages of dialogue are easy to miss especially with such strong accents at play. When the characters speak in Afrikaans subtitles are generally provided on screen but not always. The film can be watched in audio languages of either English or Hungarian (both 5.1), whilst subtitles are provided in the following flavours; English (HoH), Hungarian, Arabic, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish.
Extras
Audio commentary - This commentary features Phillip Noyce (Director), Robyn Slovo (writer), Patrick Chamusso, Shawn Slovo, Tim Robbins, Derek Luke and Bonnie Henna. Some of these cast member participate a great deal more than others and each commentary or remarks were recorded separately and then ‘stitched’ together to provide this track. Because of this the track features not real silences and an abundance of interesting anecdotes especially in regards to the real, true story of Patrick Chamusso. Deleted Scenes (1:21) A total of two deleted scenes and one extended scene. The first two scenes involve Tim Robbins’ character Vos. The first is 46 seconds long and shows him at the site of the film’s first terrorist attack on a railway line. The second scene, 36 seconds long, shows Vos at his home receiving news of the attack on the Secunda refinery. The third scene is the extended scene and features Precious, Patrick’s Wife and whilst only 44 seconds long is actually quite touching.
Overall
A moving and harrowing film about South Africa’s darkest period. Whilst it would be easy to focus on the negatives, the film manages to balance this quite well with the acts of everyday heroism by average people that paid a dear price for their heroics. The lucky ones simply went to prison for a long time. The director and scriptwriter make no effort to portray either side as completely evil or completely good and this is to their credit. ‘Catch a Fire’ is a slow burner to begin with but once Patrick and Vos’ loves intertwine, the film’s pace begins to quicken. An understated but worthwhile film.
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