Movie Review: Zwelethu Radebe’s The Hangman by Peter Nichols

REVIEW: by Peter Nichols | B+

A young man called Khetha (Thato Dhladhla) is caught in a crossroad between hanging his father and the feelings that he was abandoned by this father.

“A emotional heart wrenching tale about a true father hero killed by the son he tried to protect”

After so many years of living a lie, his father opens up on the true event that shaped his life until that moment. When he was a young boy, his father killed an Afrikaans man, who tried to rob and rape his mother, and ended up in jail.

The young boy becomes the protector of his mother and become a prison guard or hangman at the South African Prisons. This events in the film ‘The Hangman’ unfold in a forward sequence, with feedbacks to tell the story and to resolve the questions in dialogue.

The Hangman resolves to an emotional heightened end where this family is broken with a true hero father who they will never be able to celebrate his greatness.

The Hangman is certainly worthy of a feature film. Hopefully its festival run, which is currently at Holly Shorts will attract the right investors to put it into a full length feature film