The Forgiven

Post-apartheid South Africa is explored in this hard-hitting drama telling the story of the meeting of Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Forest Whitaker) and an embittered, jailed white officer (Eric Bana) as part of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sentimental storytelling weighs down the plot throughout, with serious issues softened by the melodramatic tone. But this changes whenever Whitaker and Bana share a scene together. Whitaker is not the most obvious choice for Tutu, yet he finds the spirit of the famous peacemaker in a performance that's portrayal rather than impersonation. Tutu's stoicism clashes wonderfully with the twisted bigotry of Bana's Piet Blomfeld, and watching the pair verbally fence with each other is a joy. While Blomfeld may be fictional, the ideological battle is very real. There are better dramas about Mandela's South Africa and the end of apartheid, but the film is an interesting portrait of forgiveness in the face of hatred, thanks almost entirely to the quality of its two stars.