The sun is setting on the last day of the month when I call Frans Cronje. He says it has been another long, tough day, but the R42 million movie about his younger brother Hansie is finally finished. “We’ve just finished the final edit.”
I say, “It feels fortuitous,” – catching him at the finish line of this project; while the Proteas are on TV batting at the fateful Edgbaston ground, a venue where one run in 1999 may have changed the fates of both Hansie and Bob Woolmer. That, and only a day ago I finished Garth King’s book.
Unexpectedly Frans asks me to share my impressions of the book. I say the sheer dimensions of his journey as elaborated in the book – even while Hansie was at Grey – surprise me. I’m also in a faintly familiar place. Frans and his brother were both head boys at Grey [Frans was a vice head boy], and to speak directly to Frans about people and places so close to home brings back an oddly pleasant déjà vu.
Frans tells me that the 2 hour long movie is not based on the book but on a screenplay he wrote. He also says: “Hansie is an intimate story. The movie will touch people more than the book. Grey College comes through brilliantly. The school song is used as a soundtrack in various parts of the story, thanks to brilliant touches by the Welshman Julian Wiggins. We also went to Abbey Road and recorded music with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.”
I scribble furiously, while Frans talks enthusiastically about a project – shot on location in England, India and South Africa – that is one of the most expensive South African productions ever. At one point I stop him, and ask, “Why make the movie?” After all, how long has it been since Hansie died? And isn’t this like krapping open old scabs?
“When I wrote the screenplay I asked myself, ‘What do I feel is the right story to tell?’ The answer is: ‘An honest story.’ And when we showed the folks at Nu Metro that’s just how they saw it. Because, you know, they were worried because he’s my brother that I was too close to the story.”
I’m not entirely satisfied with the answer. I press him again. I ask him if the idea for a movie about Hansie wasn’t a response to the media, and perhaps an answer to some perceptions they may have left hanging. “It was frustrating, and irritating, especially what the British media said. But I had to divorce myself from those feelings.”
“What is the kernel for you, in making this film?” I ask, I insist, dogmatically.
“I have a passion to tell stories. Especially stories that I believe can change people. Faith (Like Potatoes) was a story where we had to introduce our audience to someone they’d probably never heard of. We had to say who he is. With Hansie it is the opposite, and it’s a scary process because we have expectations to deal with. Inspiration is part of what I do, and with Hansie there are a million stories you could tell. His life was so dramatic, and entertaining. In 1999, before the King Commission, I asked Frank to play Hansie.”[is this correct]
“Being Hansie’s boet, was casting difficult?”
“Bertha [Hansie’s wife] was difficult to cast. Because we had funding from America, they wanted an American actress. So we ended up with a shortlist of about 20 actresses. We chose Sarah Thompson. Within 30 seconds of talking to her I knew she was perfect. She has the incredible softness of Bertha, and we were happy that she’d performed in roles like Seventh Heaven, and had good, clean performances behind her name.”
“Did she learn the Bloemie accent?”
“No, she doesn’t have an Afrikaans-English accent. It’s more, mid-Atlantic. Neutral. I think she did well.”
“Why was that?” I ask.
“We learned on Faith that Australian and American audiences couldn’t always follow the South African accent.”
“Do you reckon Hansie will be popular outside South Africa?”
“For sure,” Frans answers, and somehow I am left in no doubt. Frans tells me, “Tonight I am signing contracts to distribute ‘Faith’ in America. We made Hansie for a worldwide audience. We have actors from South Africa, from the States, and Indian guys playing the bookies. We want this story to be accessible in India, England and Australia. It’s not a story about cricket; it’s a human story.”
Given the R42 million price tag, I wonder if Frans ever felt he was in over his head?
“No. But it was incredibly tough. And seeing the final result I’m very happy, and relieved.”
I ask him to explain how he went about production, given the stakes. Specifically I say, “Was there anything you wanted in the movie but couldn’t get?”
“We tried not to have surprises. We spent 8 months planning, storyboarding. Every shot was planned. So we knew what we wanted. We got what we wanted. We also hoped for big music and that aspect,” Frans says, “is magic.”
I ask Frans if he, or any other ‘real people’ appear in cameos, or even extras in the flick. He says he was in a scene as an extra, but the scene got cut due to time constraints.
“What about Vollies?” I ask, referring to Grey’s principal, Mr Johan Voldsteedt.
“Hansie made us proud to be South African, a pride that was much-needed.” Johan Voldsteedt, speaking at Hansie’s funeral
2006 was the last time I saw Voldsteedt in action. I was in a temporary post teaching in Bloemfontein. Mr. Volsteedt was invited to the school to inspire the matriculants ahead of their exam. The principal of the school that has delivered greats like Morne du Plessis, Francois Steyn, Ryk Neethling and hallowed others, didn’t disappoint. How could he?
“He was tough to cast,” Frans admits. “There’ll never be a Vollies. There’ll never be a Hansie or a Bertha,” Frans adds with typical Cronje diplomacy.
“But he definitely has his marbles,” I say. “To stand in the hall the way he does, you have to know what you’re saying…I mean, in some way that is a performance.”
“Reg,” (director Regardt van den Berg), “felt it was too dangerous to cast him,” Frans says. “We made no exceptions. The cast are all actors, even the guys who played Allan Donald and Jonty.”
“I don’t want to be you.” Aussie cricketer to Allan Donald following their 1 run defeat.
Frans describes the acting as “incredible’, that even for small parts “[we used] really good actors.”
At the mention of Jonty I think of this Youtube clip.
I’ve seen earlier in the afternoon. It shows Alistair Moulton-Black doing a typical Jonty run and dive. I notice the uniforms are very different, and just this seems to act as a time machine, giving added credibility to Cronje’s film.
Hansie presents South African audiences with an opportunity to embrace one of our best sons. His brother, the cast and everyone involved have worked hard to tell an intimate and touching story. Grey College boys around the world will undoubtedly flock to cinemas, but this is also a moment to celebrate the South Africana that exists in the heartland of this country. How often do we have a chance to do that?
“I made this movie to inspire people,” Frans explains. That is what Hansie did, and in his own way, Frans has chosen filmmaking to inspire. By all accounts, Hansie is a disciplined, and balanced flick. “It’s an honest story. It has sad parts and darker moments, but it’s really about how you start again.”
I allude quickly to the Hansie movie preview (flighted before The Dark Knight), and how powerfully – brief though it was – I was transported to my alma mater. I ask Frans whether South Africans won’t be turned off by the Christian elements in the film.
“ ‘If he was a Christian, why did he do that?’ I think the movie answers that. And to be true to Hansie, and to everything that happened, we had to put in those elements. I think word of mouth will get to the cynical people.”
Frans tells me that come December, a feature pack will be available for fans on DVD that includes a documentary, in 24 parts, 3 hours long, comprising 60 interviews, including with the Cronje clan.
I ask Frans to highlight Hansie’s best scenes.
“From the King Commission to the end. People said they knew Hansie up to the King Commission. It was a signature scene, and painful filming it. Hansie cried. You know he went into a room after one of the hearings and lay on the ground and cried. When we shot that scene I cried, and when I looked around me, everyone on set was crying.”
“Do you still dream of Hansie?” I ask, remembering words from the book.
“I often dream dreams. My brother in law, Gordon Parsons, calls me Joseph. Most of my dreams are muddled. When I dream of Hansie it’s extremely real, and I always wake up sad.”
Everbody loves a hero, and Hansie was everyone’s hero. But who of us can walk with crowds and hold their virtue? Once lost, how can we regain who we once were? Let us celebrate this South African son – another of our nation’s great prodigal sons – in a way only South Africans can: with unbridled love and enthusiasm. That, after all, is Hansie.
Hansie opens on September 24, the day before his birthday. He would have been 39 years old. More information at www.hansiemovie.com
Read my review of the movie here.
NVDL: The article was originally titled Hansie deserves our support. The editor changed it to Cronje on Cronje - a powerful duo. The article as it appears in the Sunday Independent also implies in a bracketed paragraph quoted verbatim that Hansie Cronje was headboy and so was I. That's an editorial mistake. Hansie's brother Frans was a vice head boy.
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