Endgame (2009)

Cast and Crew

Director

Producer

Screenwriter

Starring

• William Hurt as Professor Will Esterhuyse
• Chiwetel Ejiofor as President Thabo Mbeki
• Mark Strong as Dr. Niel Barnard
• Jonny Lee Miller as Michael Young
• Derek Jacobi
• Clarke Peters as Nelson Mandela
• Timothy West

Movie Story

South Africa...the late 1980s. The African National Congress (ANC) wages an armed struggle against apartheid; President P.W. Botha clings to the last threads of power; the country is on the brink of bloody insurrection. In a gripping thriller based on real-life events, "Endgame" drops us into this brutal conflict's control centers: Nelson Mandela's prison, Botha's chambers, ANC headquarters, and, to our surprise, the rented car of a British businessman. It turns out that Consolidated Gold, a British mining concern, convinced that peaceful resolution in South Africa serves their interests, has initiated covert, unofficial talks between opposing sides.

Brilliantly building suspense befitting the situation's high stakes, "Endgame" chronicles this dangerous mission, where Michael Young, Consolidated's head of public affairs, doggedly assembles a reluctant, yet impressive, crew to confront intractable obstacles in the way of reconciliation. ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse are chief among them. Zeroing in on the growing emotional empathy between Mbeki and Esterhuyse, which becomes the linchpin for the talks, this enormously moving story dramatizes the way that meticulous strategies, combined with serendipity, finally unlock change. While Mandela endures house arrest, terrorist bombs threaten the dialogue, and Botha's regime gives way to F.W. de Klerk's leadership, an unlikely cadre, secreted in a distant British manor, pave the way to black South African freedom and form a template for peace negotiations around the world.

Watch Video (1 video)

Trailer

Movie Stills (25 photos)

Reader's Reviews

Quiet, dignified movie.

posted by sinclair on Oct 18, 2009 10:36:28

I found the movie extremely disjointed and William Hurt's accent quite laughable. Why not a natural South African to play that part??

posted by Television on May 05, 2009 10:16:53

not bad

posted by end game on Mar 09, 2009 07:35:39