‘Moffie’ Peels Back Falacies

THE word “moffie” is rooted in so much ignorance and hatred, and much like all other apartheid slurs, was used for othering and separating the norms of white-supremacist society from its evils.

‘Moffie’, the 2019 film written and directed by Oliver Hermanus, shines a light on the atrocities during the apartheid era not only faced by black people, but also by white soldiers carrying out their mandatory two-year call-up service with the South African Defence Force.

Driving the plot of the film, set in 1981, is teenager Nicholas van der Swart, portrayed by Kai Luke Brummer, who is enlisted in the army and experiences first-hand the horrors of war both within and outside the base.

As a false sense of masculinity, supremacy and morality is instilled in the young soldiers by aggressive and unforgiving training by superiors, the main character finds some solace in an army mate, Dylan Stassen, played by Ryan de Villiers. 

As the two try to cope with their attraction to each other, their phobias and the looming war, a heartbreaking story unfolds of not only what it was like to be a gay white man in the 80s, but also in the military.

Based on Andre Carl van der Merwe’s first autobiographical novel of the same name, ‘Moffie’ faintly peels back all the fallacies the apartheid era was built on. 

The film had its world premiere release at the Venice International Film Festival on 4 September 2019 and currently holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7,9/10 and the consensus reading: “’Moffie’ uses one South African soldier’s story to grapple against a series of thorny questions – with rough yet rewarding results.”

The film is currently available to rent on Box Office.

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