Inspirational biopic of the Archbishop who helped topple apartheid

Daniel Nelson

Tutu is vivid, energetic, heartwarming, loud, hard-hitting, colourful, tearful, joyous, pious, impish  — an inspirational portrait of The Arch himself.

His emotional collapse after hearing testimony of torture at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; his no-holds-barred dismissal of US President Ronald Reagan and UK Premier Margaret Thatcher’s “utterly racist and totally disgusting” refusal to impose sanctions on South Africa; his life-on-the-line warning to a furious mob that they would have to kill him if they persisted in trying to incinerate a perceived informer; his public challenge to government by declaring that he would not carry the infamous “pass” required for Africans. All Tutu’s greatest hits are shown in this mile-a-minute documentary; his public challenge to government by declaring that he would not carry the infamous “pass” required of Africans.

His wife Leah’s criticism that he always messed up punchlines to jokes is there, too, along with his high-pitch hyena laugh. His time in the UK, where he enjoyed the feeling of freedom, and his family life get a look in, thanks partly to two South African filmmakers (one Arab, the other Muslim: Tutu called them his “party trick”) who followed him around, almost living with him, for some 20 years “to capture who he really was as a human being.”.

It’s not all roses and successes. The film covers the strong criticisms of the way he ran the Truth Commission. His foray into the Israel-Palestine maze left no trace.

But his impact on countless South Africans and on the country as a whole was incalculable. His commitment to forgiveness was steadfast (and annoyed those for whom justice was pre-eminent); his determination, energy, enthusiasm, optimism and religious belief powered him for decades.

The film is not revelatory for those of us who lived through the Tutu era, but the film does a tremendous job of reminding us what a force of nature he was in fighting a brutal, racist, ruthless government supported by a mass of equally ignorant and prejudiced White citizens, and how well he used that force (“I am a man of peace, but not a pacifist”).

South Africa was lucky enough to have two of the most inspirational figures of the 20th century, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (who died aged 90, in 2021), to help stop a potential bloodbath. This feel-good film will help keep that history alive and may inspire others to take thoughtful action.