In
two weeks I leave for my fourth – and certainly not last – visit to
Africa. I will tour Botswana, Zimbabwe (U.S. State Department Travel Warning,
issued a year ago, is still in effect), Namibia (birthplace of Shilol Jolie-Pitt),
and South Africa. I will be able to assess the dire situation in Zimbabwe and
South Africa for myself.
"Catch
A Fire," based on a real hero and true circumstances that happened in 1980,
confused me. Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) is a foreman at the Secunda oil refinery
plant. He has a good job. In his community, he is lucky. He has steady work, a
wife, 2 small girls, supports his mother, and coaches soccer. But there is unrest
in South Africa.
Due
to the unjust stranglehold of state-sponsored Apartheid, the only means of change
is with guerrilla warfare and acts of terrorism. The white-owned refinery, that
employs black people, is being sabotaged. Bombs are going off. After there is
an explosion at the plant, Chamusso and many others are arrested.
Chamusso
is innocent of any wrongdoing but his alibi doesn't hold up. He has lied to Nic
Vios (Tim Robbins) the anti-terrorism official working for the company. It is
Vos' job to stop the attacks on the company's property. His tactics are brutal
and there is torture. But if Chamusso had just admitted he was with his mistress
and their young son, he would have been let go. Visited by Vios, Chamusso's mistress
doesn't say anything to save her man.
Vios
and his goons promptly arrest Chamusso's wife Precious (Bonnie Henna). Entire
families of suspects are rounded up and tortured. Some die.
Vios
reluctantly lets Chamusso and his wife go, but Chamusso decides to leave his wife,
girlfriend, and three children and join the African National Congress. Precious
is forced to move to a hut and get a job. The ANC wants to rid South Africa of
Apartheid and transfer foreign ownership of land and white-developed industry
to its native people.
Unlike
Al-Qaeda, the ANC is adamant: No civilian casualties.
According
to the research I did online, as things stand today – October 2006 - in South
Africa, "the government may broaden land seizures in order to boost black
land ownership, but denied that it was considering any Zimbabwe-style land grabs
(called the 'Zimbabwean model'). Zimbabwe's land reform has involved the seizure
of property from thousands of white commercial farmers, starting in 2000."
According
to another recent Reuters article, "Zimbabwe's political troubles have led
to its isolation from the West and triggered a bruising economic crisis, highlighted
by inflation of over 1,000 percent and a crippling foreign trade shortage. Zimbabwe's
agricultural output has been hit by years of drought and the flight of scores
of the most productive white commercial farmers, many of whom had their farms
violently seized by the government to give to blacks."
Chamusso's
unfair treatment radicalizes him. He trains at an ANC guerrilla camp. He is being
watched by Vios' men. His knowledge of the refinery places him in a perfect situation
to organize and then carry out another terrorist assault on the plant.
Chamusso's
actions dramatized the plight of South Africans oppressed by white foreigners
and the culture of Apartheid. His story, and the fiercely sincere portrayal by
Luke, appears romanticized and muddled. Why didn't Chamusso just tell the truth
immediately? The damage done to the refinery certainly required investigation.
Chamusso
is considered a hero in South Africa and his story influenced the end of Apartheid.
The real Chamusso appears at the end of the film and, indeed, he comes across
immediately as a charismatic, kind man. I liked him.
Since
director Phillip Noyce got Tim Robbins (doing a very nice accent) to co-star,
and apparently Robbins did not want to add another really nasty sadist to his
resume, Vios is shown as a family man who even takes Chamusso from his dank cell
to enjoy a family dinner in the country. He sings two songs! He loves his wife
and children and is very concerned about their welfare in the volatile political
climate in South Africa. Vios has morals and is clearly troubled over his investigative
techniques. He even tries to redeem himself by releasing Chamusso and his wife.
However,
isn't it odd that the real Chamusso calls Vios – on camera - "a monster."
