SIFF: Forgiveness

Of all the good films I saw during SIFF, Forgiveness, directed by Ian Gabriel, was my favorite. This powerful South African political drama, about the impact of the fight against apartheid on one family, ripped me to the very core with its raw emotion and well-developed themes of forgiveness and redemption.

The film revolves around Tertius Coutzee (Arnold Vosloo), a former police officer carrying a heavy weight of guilt for his role in the murder of a young freedom fighter during the struggle to end apartheid. Haunted and consumed by guilt, Coutzee has come to the small fishing village of Paternoster, seeking the forgiveness of the family of the boy he killed ten years ago. Coutzee received amnesty by the South African "Truth Commision" for his role in Daniel's death, but he has been unable to find redemption for himself in the aftermath of apartheid. 

The dead boy, 21-year-old university student Daniel Grootboom, is never seen in the film, but his presence looms endlessly large - in the palpable grief of his mother (Denise Newman); the guilt of his father (Zane Meas) for sending his gifted son to the university, instead of keeping him safe in the fishing village; in the hostility of his sister, Sannie (Quanita Adams, also seen recently in another South African film, Cape of Good Hope), and the rage of younger brother, Ernest (powerfully portrayed by Christo Davids), who cannot escape the shadow of his favored older brother; in the guilt of the trio of fellow freedom fighters he left behind.

The lives of all those who loved Daniel have been suspended in a space of unrelenting pain for the ten years since his death; his parents, rather than have people know their son was a freedom fighter, have perpetuated the myth that he died in a carjacking. Younger brother Ernest, in particular, has grown up unable to escape the shadow of his older brother, a perfect, brilliant boy, taken down in his prime. Ernest and Sannie have grown up in a household frozen by grief, where they cannot escape the ghost of their brother and the guilt and sorrow brought by his death; they are weighted by sadness and anger.

The village priest brings Coutzee to the Grootboom's home, where he is received with excruciating, dignified courtesy by Daniel's parents. Sannie and Ernest are not as polite - in fact, they are downright hostile to Coutzee and tell him to leave, calling him a murderer and a "white devil". Later, Sannie calls Llewellyn, one of Daniel's college friends, and tells him Coutzee is there. He tells her to keep Coutzee in Paternoster, because he and Daniel's other friends are on their way - for revenge.

Sannie complies, but in the course of keeping Coutzee in Paternoster to meet his fate, finds that life, death and revenge are not always as simple as they may seem. Unknown to Sannie, one of the trio of Daniel's friends is carrying his own load of guilt - it was he who betrayed Daniel to the South African police force, and led him to his death.

Forgiveness is heavy on symbolism, myth and story. This is not a movie chock-full of special effects, but a deep character study of the small cast, and the way their lives have turned around the death of the boy Daniel who, in dying, became larger than life for all of them. No one can release their grief of Daniel, because justice has not been served in his death. Thus, Coutzee's arrival, painful though it is for the Grootboom family, is the impetus for their freedom from grief.

This is a very deliberately made film; everything is imbued with myth and meaning - the fishing nets that anchor the house and secure the family's livelihood, the shells on the graves, the stormy clouds. There are biblical elements here as well. The betrayal of Daniel by one of his friends; Daniel's torture and murder; the sacrificial catch of fish - the first big catch in years, is seen as a sign of the shadow of death lifting through Coutzee's arrival and his desire to make right the old wrong. There is even a last supper with Coutzee and the family at the hotel - a hotel that, under the apartheid Daniel fought to end, would never have welcomed a black family.

The lines between betrayed and betrayer, guilty and innocent, blur and change through the course of the story, and mostly leave the viewer with a deep sadness and the sense that all these players were caught in the net of the greater evil of apartheid, which Daniel fought against, and Coutzee defended, without really knowing why. Cinematography plays a key role in the film, too; the film was shot during the Paternoster winter, when the skies and water are dark and moody, aptly reflecting the tone of the story.

There are some fascinating character arcs in the film as well. Ernest, in particular, goes through remarkable changes in his struggle to hold onto his hate for the man who, in taking his older brothers life, also shaped his own. Sannie is also an intricately drawn portrait, as the sister who hates Coutzee and wants him dead, but ultimately tries to save him. Daniel's mother and father, through their acceptance of what happened to their son, and their own role in putting him on the path that took him to his end, go through a resurrection, of sorts, as they find the will to move on and, along the way, rediscover each other, their surviving children, and the little joys that connect us to life.

Forgiveness was made as a part of a South African film initiative called DV8, which plans to produce and market 12 films over the next three years, with the goal of nurturing the pool of South African screenwriters and filmmakers. If the other films made as part of this effort are as strong as Forgiveness, there is much to look forward to from South African film in the coming years. The film has not been picked up for wide distribution yet, but keep an eye out for it. If it comes to a theater or video store near you, don't miss this excellent film.