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.

Hansie Deserves Our Support [+Behind the Scenes VIDEO ]

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.

Movie Review: Hansie

Hansie’s not perfect

Hansie is a disappointing movie for a number of reasons. Bertha’s accent, the odd casting of Ali Bacher and the fact that Hansie is…well…irreplaceable. I recently read Garth King’s book and was disappointed that some of the subtler details (like the controversial handover of captaincy from Kepler to Hansie) aren’t in the movie. So is Hansie a waste of our precious time? Absolutely not.

What Frans Cronje – producer, and Hansie’s brother – has done is step very far away from the subject matter and then gradually, bring the lense closer and closer to his brother in what becomes a very touching, and ultimately, very sad story. Hansie is about winning, losing and winning again.

The movie opens with crisp white text on an oil black canvas. Not long ago, when South Africa had just become a democracy, the country was looking for new heroes. And indeed, Hansie, a boy from the school Grey College, answered that call.

I was at school with Hansie at the time, and I remember how the country was changing. How sport was changing. Although Hansie was a phenomenal cricketer at school, I didn’t pay much attention to cricket or have close to the love for cricket that he did – very few South Africans supported cricket in those years of isolation. There was no such thing as a South African cricket team in those days. This was a time when South Africans knew nothing about Benson&Hedges Day/Night matches. And yet Hansie dreamed of being in it, being the captain.

At a time when South Africa was about to be extended an open invitation, in all spheres, back onto the international arena, big dreamers like Hansie were as rare as hen’s teeth.

But Hansie did dream big. As a schoolboy, at 5 ‘0 clock in the morning, Hansie and his schoolboy teammates, would run from the school to Naval Hill and back. They did this every day, for the full year, in a concerted effort to be the fittest and best school’s team. This sort of hardy iron-willed gutsy ambition stood the Vrystaat boerseun in good stead ever since. There was never anything wrong with Hansie’s ability to back up big dreams with a hard as nails work ethic.

When Hansie became the captain of the South African team, he brought this discipline with him, instilled it in the players, but remained the fittest and most committed players, rivaled only by the likes of Jonty Rhodes, someone who became one of Hansie’s best friends.

A memorable scene in the flick is a pep talk by Bob Woolmer, who has just assumed the job of coaching the team. Woolmer, well played by Nick Lorentz says, “You can do 1 thing 100% better, but you achieve far more doing 100 things 1% better.” He also says: “One run can make a difference.”

The sport scenes in the movies are superb. No, they can’t really compare with the white knuckled suspense or reality of the real matches, but they certainly take you back. The famous 1994 encounter between Hansie and Warne (sporting those white lips) is brought in bright technicolor to the silver screen, so too that famous semi-final at Edgbaston where Allan Donald failed to get a final run for victory. [One run did make the difference]. You can see the movie makers know their cricket - Klusener’s determined flick-back batting style is purposefully rendered in this scene.

Frank Rautenbach does a fair if slightly chunky version of Hansie. South African audiences will more than likely identify more with him as a fellow South African than as Hansie in particular. That said, there are certainly glimpses of Hansie in Frank. In the smile, the demeanour, and particularly behind the bat. Brandon Auret does well as Frans Cronje, and Alistair Moulton-Black is a chip off the young Jonty. David Sherwood does a credibly preachy but somewhat softened Peter Pollock and David Minnaar brings appropriate reserve and distinction to the important role of the Grey Principal, and Hansie’s mentor, Johan Volksteedt. Minnaar’s accent in particular, is perfect. Bertha’s accent irks, but then due to funding arrangements from America, they wanted at least one American actress represented in the cast. Frans told me they wanted the entire cast to be coherent to overseas audiences, hence the near total absence of Bloemfontein accents.

All the scenes featuring Grey College boys work phenomenally well. I might be biased, but I felt my blood boil and juices start to race when they sang their songs of support for their ex-headboy. The footage of Grey captures a lot of the powerful emotional truth that Cronje, through this flick, seeks to share with the world. The soundtrack is good, although one quibble: where the crickers are in a montage of newspapers and videos (the sort of thing you see in a Rocky movie) you need a much deeper, louder and more powerful DOOF DOOF from the bass to capture the power, passion and adrenalin.

There is a point in the Hansie flick where what happened to Hansie begins to address our own struggles in life – whether it be against depression, or defeat, or a lack of belief either in ourselves or what we perceive in others. It’s an incredibly dispiriting feeling, especially when you’ve had it all at your feet.

There is also a point where the audience, who is drawn almost reluctantly into so many corridors of the story, begins to float ahead near the end, unencumbered by fear or resentment. I felt tremendous compassion for Hansie. A lot of the hardcore reviewers in the audience were in tears at the end, and I was close to them myself.

I’m not sure if it is possible to make the perfect biopic. This Frans Cronje/Rigardt van den Berg movie ultimately works because, after all, it is quintessentially a South African story about a mythical white boy from Bloemfontein.

Hansie may not be perfect, but this movie certainly deserves both our attention, and our support. Stay seated when the credits roll. The best part is the raw footage of Hansie swimming with a dolphin to Joe Niemand’s beautiful song, Cry Freedom.

Hansie opens September 24 at cinemas nationwide. This is the day before what would have been Hansie's 39th birthday.

NVDL: My interview with Frans Cronje is published in the Sunday Independent on the 21st of September. The article is titled Hansie deserves our support. You can read it here.