More Pot Shots at Hansie Movie

I don't know about you, but if I made a movie about a family member, I might also err on the side of portraying that person 'positively' - especially if that person has been humiliated and slandered in the media. Wouldn't we all?
And while Frans must have been tempted to set things straight (in the sense of answering some of that vitriol), all credit to him that he didn't.

Even so, I don't think Frans set out to embellish his brother. Frans wanted to show what can happen (to anyone), and how a person might choose to recover from such a great fall. That's a useful analogy for anyone - Christian or otherwise.

The 'impress-me-media' aren't capable of that sort of insight (the Afrikaans word is 'meegevoel'.) Frans tried to do something deeper. Show what Hansie went through (not pretending to know his own thoughts, who would?), and then reveal the spiritual aspect of regaining one's own private place in the world. An awful lot of the Hansie movie is dedicated to the bookmakers, to cellphone calls from shady characters. So I'm not sure that Hansie is portrayed with overly positive bias here.

In order to tell a story you also have to set the scene. In order to show the fall from grace you also have to start somewhere - somewhere higher up. That's contrast, which sets the scene for drama and conflict. So part of the story is that Hansie was a hero. Some writers are saying he wasn't portrayed as 'bad' enough, or that his brother portrayed him 'too positively'. Wrong on both counts. But at least this movie is getting people talking (or is it bickering). The last comment about Mbeki though is a personal indulgence that just doesn't belong - which is something of a double standard based on that assertion of 'the possibility of bias in the presentation of the man flawed by greed.'

My perception, having read the biography, is that while Hansie wasn't entirely honest, he wasn't nearly as bad as most people seem to want to believe. Ironically, the same applies to this film.

clipped from www.thetimes.co.za Hansie belongs on the Hallmark channel. It’s a made-for-TV movie that is dramatic, sentimental and of limited global interest. The film makers should feel confident in utilising the great production and cinematography when it comes to putting Mbeki’s life on the big screen. Cronje is dealt with in a way that addresses the mistakes and flawed judgements that he made, but nevertheless attempts to still portray him in a positive light. His untimely death has enabled Frans Cronje to get away with this. Hansie has already paid the ultimate price, making audiences more likely to go into the film with a good deal of sympathy and pathos. Hansie, the story of a tragic sporting hero, is told by his brother Frans Cronje, which should alert audiences to the possibility of bias in the presentation of the man flawed by greed who was his own worst enemy.