Krotoa - Movie Review

Sunday the walls of our little apartment started pressing in on me. I was irritated, depressed and moody. Then my husband suggested we go out and watch a movie. At first, I didn't want to but he eventually convinced me I'll feel better afterwards.

Off course we first had to make a quick stop at Pick n Pay to buy some snacks. After we tucked the snacks safely into my handbag we made our way to the cinema. While my husband was buying the tickets I was on the lookout, making sure nobody notices that my handbag has an unusual lump. We sneaked in our snacks and at last, we were seated, waiting in anticipation for the movie to start. Well, and criticizing the old chairs that need new upholstery.

We chose to watch a movie called Krotoa. It's a South African movie, portraying a part of history that took place in the Cape of Good Hope. It's about a Khoi girl who had to work for the Dutch to keep peace between her people and the Dutch. She did this by learning the language of the Dutch and served as a translator between her people and the Dutch. Obviously, this brought on many hardships for Krotoa.

Finally, after endless previews and an endless wait to open our snacks (because who eats snacks during previews?) the movie started. At the very first sight, I was captured by the beauty of the scenery. They absolutely captured the beauty of the Cape Town mountains, the white beaches and the blue seas. They also captured windy Cape Town because the wind is oh-so-part of Cape Town. The scenery made me want to pack my bags and go live there but then I remembered...Oh, I already live here.

The movie was marked with S and V. When I watched the trailer I got the idea that they won't be very explicit with the S part. But boy, there were some scenes that made me move around uncomfortably in my seat. I must say that the following thought occurred to me at many stages of the movie: "How can they possibly know that?" For example, there was something that happened between Krotoa and the governor but it was a huge secret. If it was such a big secret how on earth will future generations know about it? Hence, I'm sure they added some details to make an interesting story but it may or may not be the entire truth. Some facts they seem to actually have wrong, for example, this article Krotoa (Eva), states that Krotoa abandoned her children but the movie portraits her children were taken from her.

Anyway, overall it was a movie that told a story. Just a story. I didn't get the idea that the movie tried to favour one particular group. It showed the good, the bad and the ugly in both groups. Both my husband and I came to the conclusion that no matter who you are, one might not always make the best of decisions. And your decisions, if not correct, can have disastrous effects on generations to come.

Overall this was an interesting and engaging movie that triggers many emotions. My star rating for this movie will have to be four stars.