Endgame (I) (2009)

A story based on the covert discussions that brought down the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

Director:

Pete Travis

Writer:

Paula Milne

Stars:

William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jonny Lee Miller

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Hurt	...	Professor Willie Esterhuyse
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Thabo Mbeki
Jonny Lee Miller	...	Michael Young
Mark Strong	...	Dr. Neil Barnard
Clarke Peters	...	Nelson Mandela
John Kani	...	Oliver Tambo
Derek Jacobi	...	Rudolph Agnew
Timothy West	...	P.W. Botha
Matthew Marsh	...	F.W. de Klerk
Mike Huff	...	Willem de Klerk
Stephen Jennings	...	Kobie Coetsee
Patrick Lyster	...	Sampie Terreblanche
Ramon Tikaram	...	Aziz Pahad
Danny Scheinmann	...	Albie Sachs
Porteus Xandau	...	Christo Brand

Storyline

A story based on the covert discussions that brought down the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

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Plot Keywords:

africa | south africa | apartheid | professor | jail cell | 

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Taglines:

Inspired by a true story that changed the world

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence/disturbing images and some strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Channel 4 [uk] Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English Afrikaans Xhosa

Release Date:

18 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Apartheids sidste dage

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,608 (USA) (6 November 2009)

Gross:

$9,645 (USA) (15 January 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daybreak Pictures, Film Afrika Worldwide

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

During the movie an Opel Rekord car is driven in South Africa, although at that time General Motors was represented via it's Delta brand in that region.

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Quotes

Epilogue: When the IRA decided to negotiate a peaceful solution to the Irish conflict, they secretly turned to the ANC
[African National Congress]
Epilogue: for advise on how to do it. They are now advising Hamas on the same strategy.

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Connections

Featured in Grierson 2010: The British Documentary Awards (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Low Life"
Performed by Scanners
Written by Sarah Daly and Matthew Mole
Courtesy of Influx Music Ltd./Dam Mak Records/Rhino Independent
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Keep Wikipedia ready!

Well, my knowledge of Apartheid is limited to my knowledge of a personality called Nelson Mandela and that he led a non-violent struggle for equality. That's about it. So, when I saw this title and the good reviews that it had received - I decided to try it out.

Unfortunately for me, I was thrown into South African history (this was expected) and I was surrounded with over 20 character (this was not expected). Botha, Thabo, Mbeki, Alie Sachs, Wille Esterhuyse, some gold consolidations organization, a PR agent - within the first twenty minutes, my head was spinning. And thus, whenever a new character came on screen, I had to press the pause button and look up Wikipedia. That is how I watched this movie.

So, for the first 35 minutes or so, I spent an equal amount of time reading Wikipedia (which was not bad, I got a lot of info) but what this means is that Endgame is not meant for the viewer who is not ready to break a sweat. Unless your knowledge of South African apartheid is not up to scratch, Endgame will make little sense by itself.

However, once you know the characters and their motives the movie turns into an extremely compelling drama and a case study of how negations are done. This would make a terrific add-on to a history course. It is a very educational movie and the acting by William Hurt and Chiwetel Ejiofor was excellent and very convincing. The direction was also very well done and the script writing was very effective (considering the nature of the subject).

In the end, this should have been a 3-4 hour miniseries. The treatment of Apartheid with proper introduction to the major characters ought to get that much time. Unfortunately Endgame is all that we get. Go ahead and watch it - it is worth the effort.