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The main character of Oliver Hermanus’ shattering “Moffie,” set in 1981 South Africa, is a handsome, white 18-year-old. In the country’s system of apartheid, he is a member of the ruling class, but he’s no insider.
Shy, timid and closeted, Nicholas van der Swart (Kai Luke Brummer) is conscripted into the army as part of regulated military service for white males over 16. There, the film’s title an Afrikaans’ anti-gay slur isn’t directed at him but it’s hurled all around an ever-present threat of ostracism and abuse. In brutal basic training, it’s as if bullets are already flying perilously close to Nicholas.
Kai Luke Brummer, center, in a scene from Moffie. (IFC Films)
Kai Luke Brummer in Moffie. (IFC Films)
Kai Luke Brummer in a scene from Moffie. (IFC Films)
South Africa, 1981. A few teenage soldiers, tanned, blond, just out of boyhood, enjoy a rare night out with a few female companions. Michael (Matthew Vey) drags on a cigarette and informs their new friends that, “we don’t feel a thing.” Later, he repeats himself back at camp, near the Angolan border, where the troops patrol for landmines and “communist” insurgents: “I feel nothing,” he reminds himself, as soldiers shoot up morphine just out of sight.
Αssociated Press
This image released by IFC Films shows Kai Luke Brummer in a scene from Moffie. (IFC Films via AP) 4/8/2021 Αssociated Press
The main character of Oliver Hermanus shattering Moffie, set in 1981 South Africa, is a handsome, white 18-year-old. In the country s system of apartheid, he is a member of the ruling class, but he s no insider.
Shy, timid and closeted, Nicholas van der Swart (Kai Luke Brummer) is conscripted into the army as part of regulated military service for white males over 16. There, the film s title an Afrikaans anti-gay slur isn t directed at him but it s hurled all around an ever-present threat of ostracism and abuse. In brutal basic training, it s as if bullets are already flying perilously close to Nicholas.