Bopha!

BOPHA! you SUCKA! I wasn't really sure if I'd like the movie -- and I certainly did not. A film that knocks you out just after watching it. Not for the squeamish. Whatever you may have seen in your life or even whatever you will see in the future, I can predict that no movie will ever give you the same feeling as this. The screenplay is intelligent, focused and clever. I much enjoyed this film, mostly because of the convincing characters, especially the man with "man manners." I'll be honest, I have never been courageous enough to watch a movie like this. It's worth seeing for some inventive uses of sound and the actors. Final rating equals 7/10.

This is an absolute must-see movie for anyone who is interested in the apartheid era in South Africa. The story is seen largely through the eyes of Micah (Danny Glover), a black police sargeant whose job is to keep order in a black township. Micah is proud of his police work. It has fed his family and given them a standard of living higher than anyone else's in the area. It has also made him a traitor in the eyes of his own people, and we see him eventually coming into conflict with the younger generation of blacks in particular, who don't see his job as anything noble. To them he is a "Judas" - betraying his own people. Increasing defiance of the apartheid laws by the young people eventually brings in special forces officers from Pretoria (Malcolm McDowell is excellent in this role) whose ruthless tactics eventually have even Micah questioning his role in enforcing the laws.

Glover was superb in this movie, excellently portraying the confusion building inside Micah as everything he has built his life on up to this point begins to crumble. Alfre Woodard also put on a strong performance as Micah's wife Rosie, who finds herself ostracized from the community because of her husband's job.

The evils of apartheid are clearly shown in this movie, and having seen it, one marvels at the fact that in the end apartheid was so quickly set aside and a modern and democratic South Africa under majority rule was so easily established. Be warned that the South African accents used in the film can be at times a little difficult to follow, but that's a small price to pay for one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

9/10

Morgan Freeman directs a wonderful landscape of struggle, oppression and revolt in this film. Danny Glover and the rest of the cast bring this vivid era in South Africa to life. There is no ambiguity here. Nor is there an easy resolution that comes to mind. Watching a film like this from a middle class couch in North America, I am filled not only with awe but a significant discomfort. One knows that time and sacrifice are about the only options available. This isn't simply hindsight. It's the message of the film. Bravo!

In the Apartheid era, Danny Glover is a sargeant in the South African police in a peaceful township. He lectures the cadets, he obeys his orders, he takes care of his wife, Alfre Woodard, and their son, Maynard Eziashi. What he finds out during the course of the film is that Eziashi is a student leader of the anti-Apatheid movement, and that new local police commander Malcolm McDowell thinks that the response to peaceful demonstrations is shotgun shells.

It's Morgan Freeman's sole outing as a feature director, and it's a stellar effort in acting by all on hand, particularly Marius Weyers as the sympathetic cop who's shoved aside -- I always expect Glover, Woodard, and McDowell to give fine performances. It's heartfelt, sad, and ultimately tragic. It was also shot in Zimbabwe.

Morgan Freeman's directorial debut.. superb performance by the protagonist Danny Glover.. horrors of apartheid ... no melodrama or overacting .. an insightful film