Film review: Catch a Fire (2006)

1. In general, what did you like and dislike about the film?

In general, I can say that I enjoyed the movie, but for some reason I can not shake off the feeling that there is something hanging or that was left aside, for me, there is something missing.

What I really liked is that the director portrayed both sides, the ones trying to break the Apartheid, Umkhonto we Sizwe, and the ones that supported and held onto the Apartheid itself (Chamusso and Vos, respectively), so it was amazing to watch the scene in which Patrick executes the plan to make the fuel refinery explode. In that part I was kind of anxious, because sometimes I lost the track on who the camera was focused.

I also liked how they used the music of the album "Catch a Fire" (same title of the movie) of Bob Marley. In said album the lyrics talk of social conscience and an optimistic vision of a future free of oppression, something thoroughly discussed in the film.  I really admire how they intertwined the music, lyrics and the film scenes, like the one in which the ANC in Mozambique was attacked.

As you mentioned, the movie was very raw, something that I think is necessary for a movie that touches such a topic. Even though they show how Vos was with his family, it does not make one forget that he is a cruel and vil man, and I truly respect what they did in that matter, because in some movies they try to portray that they had a nice side and that they were not bad all the time, but in this movie I never forgot who he truly was.

I have to admit that I cried at the end, when the real Patrick Chammuso says that he could not kill Vos, because if he forgive him, he would be a true free man. It reminds me of the very first minutes of  the documentary film "Human" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1WdfVWo1pQ from minute 3:56 to 6:55 (I highly recommend to watch it all) I find myself amazed of how there is people that is able to think beyond the circle of hate and they even teach others how to break the circle of hate that envelops humanity.

2. Who was the character you like the most and the character you liked the least in the film? Why?

The movie is kind of centered just in Chammuso's life, so I think is hard to choose a favorite character, because everyone had an important role on the development of the film and History, and the movie was too short and barely focused in the secondary characters.

But if I have to pick one, I would say it was that it was obviously Patrick Chamusso, I respect him because he was a really brave man that fought against the injustice and misery imposed by the Apartheid and when he was released from prison, he decided to forgive and not to take revenge, he even took care of orphans. But I can not forgive the fact that he cheated on Precious.

I also liked the little boy, Sixpence, because he did not show fear in front of the investigators (at least in what was shown in the movie),it is so sad that no one saw him alive again.  I felt empowered with Mama Dorothy, because even thought it was ilegal to hear the AMC radio, she did so every night, even after Patrick told her not to, she was old, but she was brave and did not care for the rules of the Apartheid.

I really disliked Vos, I don't think I need to elaborate, but he was a cruel man who even used his family as a technique to scare the prisoners.


3. What was the role of Samora Michel, the FRELIMO, and the revolutionary Mozambique in the struggle against the South African apartheid? Use examples from the film and the biography of Samora Machel.

Samora Machel is the proof of a man who lived and suffered under he regimen of an outsider ruling his country, a man who wanted to fight to regain the freedom of his people. He joined the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), fought alongside his people and then became the first president of Mozambique, making laws to improve the lives of the Mozambicans (in the article of his life, it is said that he made schools and clinics). 

The importance of Machel and FRELIMO is that they did not just free their countries of the Portuguese  they also helped other countries in the struggle for freedom, it was even an international policy. They gave the AMC a place to hide, train and to plan against the apartheid. In the movie it was portrayed when Chamusso went to Mozambique to train, he even met Joe Slovo there. I find really respectable that they fought for themselves and then helped other countries, we should totally learn from them.