Bopha!

Incredible tension from a fevered conflict of races, generations, and police-and-citizens. Morgan Freeman proves himself a great director: the acting from the cast is flawless and strong, and some of the camera set-ups are indelible. There's a short shot where an armored car is roaring toward a phone pole, behind which Alfre Woodward is crouching in terror, that is truly magnificent! Hollywood often ignores superb directorial talent: Charles Laughton only directed one film, Orson Welles had a hell of a time. Yet there are so many mediocre films which lose money! Somebody please jam a good script into Mr. Freeman's hand and stick him behind a camera!

It's hard to criticise a film that has such noble intentions. But what should have been a gripping story ended up being strangely emotionally a little flat. Danny Glover didn't really fill out his role adequately, and as his story is the central one, it was a little disappointing. Other performances were generally okay. The score by Horner was not his greatest, and seemed quite derivative of other composers. And way too often it sounded like an American score (all that brass!) Some of the cinematography was stunning.

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

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.

Bopha! is surprisingly quite a memorable and inspiring film about the troubled years in South Africa. One of my favorite actors, Malcolm McDowell was as ever brilliant playing the evil policeman. The problem is that I and many others are used to seeing McDowell as an anti-hero and by casting him as such a nasty role as he plays in this film, you do not feel as shocked and disgusted by his actions as you should do.