Red Dust (2004)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Tom Hooper

Writers:

Troy Kennedy-Martin (screenplay)
Gillian Slovo (novel)

Release Date:

14 April 2005 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Police officer Dirk Hendricks (Bartlett) files an amnesty application for Alex Mpondo (Ejiofor), a member of the South African Parliament who can't remember the torture he once endured as a captive political activist. South African-born attorney Sarah Barcant (Swank), meanwhile, returns to her homeland to represent Mpondo, as well as Steve Sizela, Mpondo's friend who arrested along with him and never heard from again. |

Plot Keywords:

South Africa | Apartheid | Courtroom | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jamie Bartlett	...	Dirk Hendricks
Hilary Swank	...	Sarah Barcant
Ian Roberts	...	Piet Müller
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Alex Mpondo
Hlomla Dandala	...	Oscar Dumasi
James Ngcobo	...	Ezekiel
Glen Gabela	...	Themba
Connie Mfuku	...	Alex's Aunt
Sylvaine Strike	...	Woman at House
Greg Latter	...	Mannie Bester
Zaa Nkweta	...	Reporter
Marius Weyers	...	Ben Hoffman
Sam Phillips	...	Elder (as Sam Philllips)
Elize Cawood	...	Anna Hoffman
Mawongo Tyawa	...	James Sizela (as Mawonga Dominic Tyawa)

MPAA:

Rated R for violent images and language.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

UK | South Africa

Language:

English | Xhosa | Afrikaans

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | USA:R | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Italy:T | Iceland:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:12 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

[last lines]
Alex Mpondo: We have the right to say that it hurt.

Movie Connections:

References The Graduate (1967)

Beautiful, absorbing and thought-provoking

Not knowing a great deal about the Truth and Reconciliation commission, I can only look at this as a piece of entertainment. I started watching it too late in the evening (recorded from BBC2 earlier this year) but once I'd started I had to watch to the end.

The down-side is that it's effectively a courtroom drama - never my favourite genre - but it's stunningly photographed (largely in super-saturated ochres) and well acted. Like a good novel, I couldn't put it down. All the way through, I wished I was watching it in a cinema to do the music and photography justice. What happened to its release in theatres? I'm an admirer of Chiwetel Ejiofor since I saw him in Dirty Pretty Things, and Hilary Swank looks terrific in this - very female and sexy for a change (possibly out of place, but she adds to the visual attractiveness of the film).

This picture deserves a wider audience than it seems to be getting.