Certificate 15, 117 mins

History is so eager to kneel in front of Nelson Mandela that most people seem to have forgotten that he’s human. Goodbye Bafana, Bille August’s “true” account of Mandela’s 20-year relationship with his prison guard James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes), on Robben Island, is a flattering case in point. Dennis Haysbert’s noble Mandela swings a heavy hammer to break the occasional rock. Despite the lack of a heavenly choir, this suspiciously plump activist is as fragrant as Jesus Christ. Fiennes delivers the performance he’s failed to post for a decade. He arrives on screen as an ambitious, misguided prison officer with a pushy wife (Diane Kruger). The subtle pleasure is that this officer is hated for all the wrong reasons, by all the cast.

The grudging respect that Gregory and his famous captive instil in each other is the magic. Gregory grew up in the same dusty backwater as Mandela. He is fluent in the language and customs. These are rare credentials for a white racist screw. But his talents also foster an intimacy with Mandela that forces him to question the entire moral point of his duty. Mandela of course has no such qualms. The melodrama is a rose-tinted homage. But affecting too.

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