Patrick Chamusso, a man who has always stayed away from the politics of his native country, South Africa, suddenly finds himself being accused for an act of terrorism at the Secunda electric plant. The police are after the ones responsible for this act of terrorism, so they have to find a scape goat to pay the price. Patrick is the the man at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Events in South Africa in the 80s are at the center of this story. The cruel white regime, a minority in the country, oppressed the large black majority. Apartheid was the law of the land then as blacks were excluded from everything. Some men rebelled and decided to fight back. Those that were found were tortured and killed. Those like Patrick Chamusso, who never felt the need to go against the whites, finds himself turning into a terrorist when he is singled out as one of the ones that had carried out the Secunda electric plant terrorist attack. When the cruel Nic Vos apprehends him, Chamusso makes up his mind to go to the other side to fight for his country's freedom.
Phillip Noyce, the director, working on the material by Shawn Slovo, has come out with a film that makes a case for people like Patrick Chamusso who goes from a passive man into a terrorist that will do anything in his power to make a statement against the oppression the white rule has subjected him and his fellow black South Africans.
It is surprising that at the end we are shown the real Patrick Chamusso, who speaks directly to the camera. He is a changed man because he feels that in his heart it's better to forgive and move on, rather than to keep all that negative energy in his heart. That's easy to do in his case because the change in his country where things changed in a positive way after the arrival of Nelson Mandela from exile and into power.
Derek Luke plays Patrick Chamusso convincingly. Tim Robbins is seen as Nic Vos, the cruel security man. Bonnie Henna appears as Precious, Patrick's wife.
Events in South Africa in the 80s are at the center of this story. The cruel white regime, a minority in the country, oppressed the large black majority. Apartheid was the law of the land then as blacks were excluded from everything. Some men rebelled and decided to fight back. Those that were found were tortured and killed. Those like Patrick Chamusso, who never felt the need to go against the whites, finds himself turning into a terrorist when he is singled out as one of the ones that had carried out the Secunda electric plant terrorist attack. When the cruel Nic Vos apprehends him, Chamusso makes up his mind to go to the other side to fight for his country's freedom.
Phillip Noyce, the director, working on the material by Shawn Slovo, has come out with a film that makes a case for people like Patrick Chamusso who goes from a passive man into a terrorist that will do anything in his power to make a statement against the oppression the white rule has subjected him and his fellow black South Africans.
It is surprising that at the end we are shown the real Patrick Chamusso, who speaks directly to the camera. He is a changed man because he feels that in his heart it's better to forgive and move on, rather than to keep all that negative energy in his heart. That's easy to do in his case because the change in his country where things changed in a positive way after the arrival of Nelson Mandela from exile and into power.
Derek Luke plays Patrick Chamusso convincingly. Tim Robbins is seen as Nic Vos, the cruel security man. Bonnie Henna appears as Precious, Patrick's wife.