Fiela se Kind review – Valiant yet laborious retelling of classic

The question I repeatedly ask is why do filmmakers continue to remake classic movies, often attempting to give them a new spin in the process.

Case in point is the retelling of Fiela se Kind, adapted again from Dalene Matthee’s iconic novel, and now seen through a different lens.

Set in 1880, the story tells of Fiela Komoetie (Zenobia Kloppers), a coloured woman living in the arid Karoo who discovers a lost white child on her doorstep and takes him in, raising him as her own.

Nine years later, Benjamin Komoetie is removed by the Afrikaans authorities and forced to live in the Knysna Forest with his biological family: abusive father Elias (Drikus Volschenk) and passive mother Barta van Rooyen (Cindy Swanepoel). They are a meagre family of woodcutters.

Fiela se Kind. Picture: Supplied

Separated by the law and geography, Fiela and Benjamin spend the next decade trying to find each other, while simultaneously coming to terms with their individual identities.

Comparisons are often odious but, nevertheless, can’t be completely ignored. Katinka Heyns’ 1988 version was a superb production on every level.

In her deft hands, and aided by an outstanding cast featuring Shaleen Surtie-Richards as Fiela, Dawid Minaar as Benjamin Snr, Jan Ellis as Benjamin and Annie Malan as Benjamin’s sister Nina, the production was a SA cinematic milestone. Renowned Afrikaans author Chris Barnard wrote the screenplay.

Now, 31 years later, Brett Michael Innes has taken the film on a fresh journey.

Working from his own screenplay, he focuses a great deal on the relationship between Fiela and the two versions of Benjamin, the chubby child (Luca Bornman) and the bearded adult (Wayne Smith). This foundation is shaky at times.

Wayne Smith and Melissa Willering in ‘Fiela se Kind’. Picture: Danah Spies

Kloppers is fine, but lacks the gravitas to carve the fiery Fiela with the power strokes the character demands. Luca Bornman never quite comes across as a little lost boy. The chemistry hardly improves with the introduction of the adult Benjamin, played by a tepid Wayne Smith.

Volschenk and Swanepoel are suitably pathetic.

Innes does a valiant job, but the task of rendering a powerful production with fresh nuances is never fully realised.

Long pauses and a plodding pace tend to hinder the overall thrust and what remains is not entirely satisfying.

Info

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Cast: Zenobia Kloppers, Drikus Volschenk, Melissa Willering, Cindy Swanepoel, Wayne Smith
Director: Brett Michael Innes (Afrikaans with English subtitles)
Classification: 13LPV

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.