Tom's Recommended Film of the Week

Catch A Fire

Focus Features presents some of the best little films you'll ever want to see. Sometimes they are sort of hidden amongst the big blockbusters, but it's worth seeking them out. This is certainly the case with Catch A Fire, directed by Phillip Noyce and written by Shawn Slovo.

Catch A Fire gives us a glimpse of both sides of the apartheid era in South Africa. As a film, it offers up many questions. Is there a difference between terrorist and revolutionary, or is it just a matter of perspective? How can we preserve and protect ourselves, our families and our rights and civil liberties? Is action better than inaction?

In Catch A Fire we see viewpoints and approaches to these questions from both sides of the conflict, mainly through actors Tim Robbins and Derek Luke. The dichotomy of aggression and passivity between characters and the seemingly random destructive, uplifting and demeaning results these actions produce, raise this film to a higher level. Action, tension, misunderstanding, fear, power, love and determination all flash at the viewer, making Catch A Fire exciting, entertaining and thought provoking.