Film
Indie Flix: Raw racism and redemption
By STEVE
PERSALL, Times Staff Writer
Published February 12, 2004
Final Solution (R) (110 min.) - South Africa's apartheid
era is the backdrop for a story of redemption, as an Afrikaner
racist named Gerrit Wolfhaardt sees the error of his ways,
with some spiritual assistance. The story, for the most part,
is true. The religious importance has been downplayed to
better appeal to secular audiences.
Final Solution is written and directed by Cristobal Krusen,
51, a Tampa native whose born-again experience doesn't
preclude making a harshly authentic film. This is a more
subtle type of screen sermon than moviegoers might expect
after Bible-thumping cinema such as Left Behind and The Omega
Code. Mainstream audiences can expect a gripping tale well
acted with solid production values.
(For an interview with Krusen, see Friday's Floridian.)
The film begins during the final year of apartheid, when
racists clung desperately to their diminishing influence. One
Afrikaner responsible for a drive-by shooting in a black
township escapes into a church for safety. The cleric (John
Kani) won't hand him over to a mob. Instead, the villain hears
an older, wiser Wolfhaardt (Jan Ellis) tell how he changed his
ways.
The cross-generational drama gets a charge from the
fictional link of a black man (Mpho Lovinga) who once was
Wolfhaardt's victim and now is part of his literally captive
audience. The key theme is forgiveness, certainly one familiar
to Christians, but depicted in a fashion that seems more a
matter of personal choice than theological pressure.
Krusen's film takes too long to get on track with
Wolfhaardt's story and becomes too neatly melodramatic at the
climax. But it's a smartly imagined production benefiting
greatly by being filmed on location in South Africa. It also
helps that Krusen chose to make the violence look horrible,
something that other faith-themed filmmakers would be too
timid to try.
Final Solution opens Friday for one week only at
Channelside Cinemas in Tampa, unless Krusen's play for mass
appeal works and ticket sales warrant another week. B
- STEVE PERSALL, Times film critic
[Last modified February 11, 2004,
12:20:54]
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