Shawn and Robyn Slovo (creators of A World Apart) once again return to their family history and South Africa’s troubled past in this new film from director Philip Noyce (The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence).
Based on the extraordinary story of Patrick Chamusso, a family man who takes up arms as part of the ANC struggle, this is a gripping political thriller which juxtaposes one individual with one nation in a story which stretches over two decades ending in the present day and the confrontation between oppressors and oppressed.
Chamusso is an apolitical oil refinery foreman who is picked up by government terror squads and tortured after an attack on the oil plant.
As life becomes increasingly difficult, he joins the ANC and trains as a freedom fighter in Mozambique returning with an audacious plan to take out the plant, South Africa’s biggest oil refinery.
What shines out is Chamusso’s resilience and passion and the spirit of freedom which kept so many hopes alive despite appalling brutality and injustice. Noyce crafts a gripping story with compelling performances out of one man’s life and Derek Luke impresses as Chamusso, a flawed but charismatic hero, standing firm as the eye of the storm.
