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| ABOUT TRaC |
Intensive Film TRaC Spring 2003
When The War Is Over In 1994, Nelson Mandela was triumphantly elected as South Africa's first freely and fairly elected president. Gone were the days of apartheid and its legalized racism. Swept away were the decades of rape, murder and torture. And the generation-long struggle was ended. To the freedom fighters, it was the victory they had been waiting for so long. But inevitably they would face the question of what would happen after. Meet Gori and Marlon, two former freedom fighters who now lead very different lives. The questions were posed to them after the initial jubilation felt from freedom had finally settled. Where would they go from here? What now? Gori is a captain in the army, Marlon is a gang member. Gori, engaged, is having problems with his fiancée, while Marlon, angry, is having problems with his gun. The answers to the questions have led them both down somber paths, largely because thy are still dealing with their own disillusionment over the cause. Their party, the African National Congress, has forgotten many of the freedom fighters, and the answers to the questions have fueled bitterness. Director Francois Verster attempted to explore those answers in his film When The War Is Over, showcased in the Ten Years of Freedom Film Festival. The festival, the first ever, celebrates the tenth anniversary of Nelson Mandela's election and displays a collection of films from the new South Africa. Verster is one of many directors who are attempting to convey the message of the thousands of stories flowing out of South Africa. His reasons were wonderful. The story was wonderful. The movie was bad. Verster says, in his Director's Statement, that this was one of his most important films ever. He should have paid more attention to it. The story could have been brought to the audience in a more easily understandable way. At times, it was difficult to determine whether Gori was still engaged or not, or whether Marlon has called for peace between the gangs or had fueled more hatred. The plot was spotty and at times utterly incomprehensible. At one point, Verster changes the purpose of the movie from a broader examination of the "What now?" questions to a biography of the lives of Gori and Marlon. It is immensely frustrating when you've lost sight of what the movie is about. Verster says that the lives of these two were too interesting; he had to make them the central focus. In doing so, he tried to subordinate the main idea (the questions) to a backdrop of information, making the movie essentially a biography. Big mistake. The main idea was too overpowering in the beginning to just be put aside. But in the end, the effects of Verster's work may all be ascribed to one thing: reality. Verster was working with reality, and in reality, nothing usually goes as planned. In the Q&A sessions following the movie (more like an interrogation of the poor man), an audience member angrily asked Verster why he had not put the children in Gori's marriage scene. Verster's response: they weren't there.
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