This South African film would appear to tread a well-worn path; and it's certainly true that the military training (and also war itself) is hell genre is one that can often feel over-familiar. Many of the tropes we know well are there, but this stands out for a couple of reasons. Telling the story of the white male experience of conscription in apartheid South Africa is an under-explored context in cinema; and to do so from a South African, coloured director makes this all the more striking. Also served by a disciplined running-time, the film manages to examine a particularly (Afrikaans) brand of white South African toxic masculinity with an unflinching but compassionate eye. That the legacy of this still haunts South Africans of all ages and races makes this all the more important. The title is an Afrikaans slang word used to offensively denigrate gay people, and it's this territory that the film specifically deals with; it's often a hard watch, but never relentlessly so and never excessive. Though it is very much rooted in the local context, it will work well for viewers no matter their nationality. This film suffered from an abbreviated cinema release due to lockdown, and deserves a wider audience.
Plot summary
Nicholas has long known he is different, that something shameful and unacceptable in him must stay hidden and denied. But South Africa's minority government are embroiled in conflict at the Angolan border and all white young men over 16 must serve two years of compulsory military service to defend the Apartheid regime and its culture of toxic racist machismo. The 'black danger' is the real and present threat; what is wrong with Nicholas and others like him can be rooted out, treated, and cured like cancer. But just when fear pushes Nicholas to accept unspeakable horrors in the hopes of staying invisible, a tender relationship with another recruit becomes as dangerous for them both as any enemy fire.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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An Excellent, Moving South African Film
Cinema Omnivore - MOFFIE (2019) 7.4/10
"Shot in Academy Ratio, MOFFIE is more retro-accurate in its production design and overall hue that is evocative of a bygone time. DP Jamie Ramsay's gorgeous cinematography, whether a mobile close-up or a static long shot, has a painterly and grainy texture in accordance with Braam du Toit's ominous and otherworldly string score, plus Brümmer's poised, internalized central performance, together MOFFIE almost immerses audience vicariously into the seemingly never-ending nightmare, culminated in a night patrol near the border where you might dread a landmine could explode at any minute."
read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.
a little bit of kraalsk
About gay life in a kind of world that has been cronically sodomizin,, bullying and repressing gayhood or every kind of lgbtq+ life and lifestyle, namely the military services. this time its from the army in southafrika.
its a tough film to view, and there are similarities to my own countrys military services, but not that harsh and cruel. when i was in most gay people where dismissed on medical reasons and were therefore not so outstandingly in your view, but bullying can reach the worst dimensions in a hierarchy as military. there are very few to turn to, and back then it was merely a mans world. not a good recipie.
there are lots of raw language and the commander have phrases that could frreze off every kind of pride the newbies may have, and they always find themselves a scapegoat, that often fell 6 feet under before the end of service.
otherwise its a rather shallow military tale, the personalities poorly described, even the main caracters, and the flashback of his life are not to easy to interpret.
but if you like the screams of southafrican kraalsk afrikaans, then have a go, the grumpy old man thinks its recommended anyway