Moffie

Reading many of the reviews here, I can't help feel that many have misunderstood the point of the film.

This film is not an exploration into apartheid times, nor the war. It's also not thematic around homosexuality.

Instead, the film is a reflection on masculinity and herd mentality. Of three sensitive men, forced to join the army and having to come to terms with their new environment.

I've avoided spoilers in this review, deliberately. However I would say many reviewers here seem to like conclusive endings, or happy endings. This film will not give you that.

This film will take you on a journey of aggression, submission, romance and friendship.

A wonderful film.

As an ex SANDF conscript, there are just too many factual inaccuracies for me to take the film seriously. A good attempt, but falls short in many aspects. Life was far more brutal as a conscript in the SANDF and the ending is left hanging in the air.

This South African film would appear to tread a well-worn path; and it's certainly true that the military training (and also war itself) is hell genre is one that can often feel over-familiar. Many of the tropes we know well are there, but this stands out for a couple of reasons. Telling the story of the white male experience of conscription in apartheid South Africa is an under-explored context in cinema; and to do so from a South African, coloured director makes this all the more striking. Also served by a disciplined running-time, the film manages to examine a particularly (Afrikaans) brand of white South African toxic masculinity with an unflinching but compassionate eye. That the legacy of this still haunts South Africans of all ages and races makes this all the more important. The title is an Afrikaans slang word used to offensively denigrate gay people, and it's this territory that the film specifically deals with; it's often a hard watch, but never relentlessly so and never excessive. Though it is very much rooted in the local context, it will work well for viewers no matter their nationality. This film suffered from an abbreviated cinema release due to lockdown, and deserves a wider audience.

What is it like to be a 16-year-old, having to spend 2 years in the army? It is 1981 South Africa, and Nick is due for army service, undergoing basic training, then joining the border clashes with the communists in Namibia. The biggest rule in basic training is to not catch the attention of the Sergeant. Also, in a hypermasculinized culture, don't get caught doing anything "moffie", i.e. "faggot".

Because of the taboo against homosexuality, there is little in the nature of a gay story - just some hints here and there. It would not take much cutting to remove the gay angle, except to show that the army considers moffies to be people to be beaten and sent for psychiatric treatment.

Also, while it was useful for recognition for Nick to look the youngest in his squad, it just seems weird that what should be a group of 16-year-old recruits would look so old.

I'd read the book which is atmospheric and weirdly compelling, if also slight and ultimately unsatisfying. But books with sparse narratives often make the best films (eg. Bridges of Madison County) so I was ready to give Moffie another go. The film is also atmospheric and offers some confronting insights into the apartheid years and South African army culture. Beyond that, it is less compelling than the book, and even more unsatisfying. There's a fatal lack of narrative drive and no real attempt to flesh out key characters - acutely observed in the book, but only roughly sketched in the film. Our guide through two years of national service is Nicholas van der Swart, a sensitive young man, struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality and experiencing the first pangs of serious attraction. In the novel both his inner and outward struggle is moving and eventually devastating. But on film Nicholas appears frustratingly passive and considerably less heroic. Kai Luke Brummer makes an attractive Nick, but the role is almost entirely reactive, which makes for a somewhat lame hero. Perhaps Moffie is the film that that book deserved - faithful and true. But it still feels like a missed opportunity.