The Stick

I couldn't give two hoots about the accuracy of the South African Defence Force uniforms or the film's apparent commentary on the conflicts between SA and Angola: The Stick (AKA Platoon Warrior) is a well directed, atmospheric war tale with touches of the supernatural that feels like something out of The Twilight Zone, and it is well worth your time.

The film sees a ragtag unit of soldiers (a stick) on a mission to locate and annihilate the tribesmen who have been ambushing South African platoons. When the men massacre the people of a village, including their witch doctor, they find themselves caught in a nightmare, unable to find their way back to base and hunted by an unseen enemy.

Sporadic bursts of grim violence (even kids are killed) and a general feeling of hopelessness and despair, all accompanied by the lead character's haunting narration, go to make The Stick a gripping study of the horrors of war and how it affects men differently. The characters are well defined, the acting is excellent, and the script is thought provoking; the film is also great from a technical standpoint, with wonderful camerawork and editing.

8/10.

Made at a time when South Africa was heavily embroiled in a big punch-up in Angola, The Stick was bound to incur the considerable wrath of the authorities. In fact, worse was yet to come (Cuito Cuanavale) but we didn't know it then. The Stick is often compared to Oliver Stone's Platoon but it is both a grittier and yet less satisfying portrait of men at war. It suffers greatly from having the players dressed in non-SADF uniforms, operating in an nameless African country, and yet it's obviously supposed to be the SADF in Angola. As a result the film is reduced to allegory and we are left with the situation that no film-maker (and few writers) have adequately explored the effects of the Angolan war and South Africa's long-winded role in it. But the performances are superb and accurate. The O'Grady character is typical of the sociopaths that one found in just about every SADF platoon, no matter which branch of service. The tension between the rank and file, and the underlying tension between the English-speaking and Afrikaans conscripts is finely pitched. As a record of the SADF experience, The Stick is pretty good. But, still, it could use a re-make.

Darrell Roodt takes the viewer through a surreal journey as we see how a group of men lose their sanity. The Angola war was a sensitive subject at the time and this film was not welcomed by the government of 1988. The film is often described as being anti-war, but that is up to the viewer since the film only shows humanity at its worst in fact. The characters in the film don't really seem to change much, but more of them are revealed as they suffer more. Some snap, some panic, the film shows it all and I guess you can call it an anti-war film if you feel people aren't capable of acting responsibly when put under this kind of pressure. The direction is solid and the script seems realistic. Well worth a watch and certainly one of Darrell's best films.

Although it has been a some time since I've seen this movie, it seems to have stuck quite well. The actors manage to convey quite clearly the effect the events have on them as their companions drop off one by one.

The viewer, like the main characters, never really sees what it is that has them running but whatever it is that's scaring them will have you scared as well.

This movie, although it seems like a B one, it really is a great watch if you get a chance. This can be remade in 2020 and make a great story plot.