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Catch A Fire
2006
A political thriller that powerfully tells the real-life story of a South African hero's journey to freedom. In the country's turbulent and divided times in the 1980s, Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) is an oil refinery foreman and soccer coach who is apolitical - until he and his wife Precious (Bonnie Henna) are jailed. Patrick .. Read more
| Starring | Tim Robbins, Derek Luke, Bonnie Mbuli, Mncedisi Shabangu |
|---|---|
| Director | Phillip Noyce |
| Genres | Drama |
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Catch A Fire
A political thriller that powerfully tells the real-life story of a South African hero's journey to freedom. In the country's turbulent and divided times in the 1980s, Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) is an oil refinery foreman and soccer coach who is apolitical - until he and his wife Precious (Bonnie Henna) are jailed. Patrick is stunned into action against the country's oppressive reigning system, even as police Colonel Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) further insinuates himself into the Chamussos' lives.
| Starring | Tim Robbins, Derek Luke, Bonnie Mbuli, Mncedisi Shabangu |
|---|---|
| Director | Phillip Noyce |
| Studio | UIP |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 41 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Collections | Anthony Minghella Collection |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Subtitles | DVD: English, Arabic, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 16 Jul 2007 Production year: 2006 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews
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Africa and its history are now rich pickings for foreign producers, and no picking is richer than a true tale that... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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55 out of 56 people found this review helpful
Essential viewing
This film should be part of the national curriculum! Essential viewing for any student of South African history, it tells loud and clear of the appalling brutality of the white regime in pre-ANC led South Africa. The acting is of a high enough calibre to make me rate this film very good, but the overall impact makes happy to give it 5 out of 5. There are a couple of moments of slight cheesiness, but they shouldn't detract too much. Even the South African accents aren't too bad!
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Most recent members' review
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17 out of 19 people found this review helpful
Best film I have seen in a long time
It is so refreshing to see a film that has been directed well, uses good photography, well acted, but above all tells such a powerful and touching story. I rented this thinking it would be an OK independent movie, but was pleasantly surprised and didn't even realise it was based on true life events. Tim Robbins plays a South African intelligence officer a complex character: sinisterly brutal and manipulative, mixed with a deceiving charm. This has to be one of Robbin's finest roles. But above all it was the portrayal of Patrick by Derek Luke that had me gripped throughout.
Highly recommended. -
News and features
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Catch a Fire
- 20 Mar 2007
Originally known as 'Hotstuff' but changed to avoid unwarranted blaxploitation/disco era connotations, Catch A Fire is further proof that Africa has become fashionable continent for Western liberal filmmakers. Not that you could accuse screenwriter Shawn Slovo of following a trend. Born and bred in South Africa, where her father Joe was leader of the Communist Party and a prominent ANC activist, she wrote A World Apart back in 1988, while Nelson Mandela was still in prison on Robben Island.... Read more
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A political thriller that powerfully tells the real-life story of a South African hero's journey to freedom. In the country's turbulent and divided times in the 1980s, Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) ... -