''Endgame'' is a 2009 British film directed by

Pete Travis Pete Travis is a British television and film director. His work includes ''Cold Feet'' (1999), '' The Jury'' (2002) and ''Omagh'' (2004) for television and '' Vantage Point'' (2008), '' Endgame'' (2009), ''Dredd'' (2012) and '' City of Tiny Lig ...

from a script by

Paula Milne Paula Milne is a British screenwriter. Her works include ''The Politician's Wife'', ''The Virgin Queen'', ''Chandler & Co'', ''Die Kinder'', ''Second Sight'', ''Driving Ambition'', ''Small Island'' and ''Endgame''. Her first single drama wa ...

, based upon the book ''The Fall of Apartheid'' by Robert Harvey. The film is produced by Daybreak Pictures and reunites Travis with ''

Vantage Point Vantage Point (formerly Archway Tower) is a 195-foot (59m) 17-storey residential apartment building above Archway Underground station, designed by Grid Architects, and owned and operated by Essential Living. History Archway Tower was built ...

'' actor

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. H ...

. It also stars

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awa ...

Jonny Lee Miller Jonathan Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is a British film, television and theatre actor. He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy-drama film '' Trainspotting'' (1996) and as Dade Murphy i ...

and Mark Strong. The film dramatises the final days of

apartheid in South Africa Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. It was filmed at locations in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in the first half of 2008 and was completed in December that year. The film had its world premiere on 18 January 2009 at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

and was broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

on 4 May 2009. It also had an international theatrical release, the distribution of which was handled by Target Entertainment Group.

Plot

The film depicts the final days of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, focusing on secret talks held between the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

and the members of the National Party in a country house in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

.Carnevale, Rob (5 March 2008).
Vantage Point - Pete Travis interview
. IndieLondon. Retrieved on 17 April 2008. The film focuses on the relationship that develops between

Willie Esterhuyse Willem Petrus "Willie" Esterhuyse, OLS (born 19 August 1936) is an emeritus professor of philosophy and business ethics at the University of Stellenbosch, a columnist and critic of the system of apartheid. Early life Willem Petrus Esterhuyse ...

and

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

. The secret talks were brokered by Michael Young, a British businessman who worked for

Consolidated Gold Fields Consolidated Gold Fields was a British gold-mining company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Hanson in 1988. History Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa was fou ...

, a firm with considerable interests in South Africa. The talks took place in

Mells Park House Mells Park is a country estate of near Mells, Somerset, England. It originated as a 17th-century deer park, probably created by the Horner family, who had been the owners of Mells Manor from 1543. The Horners expanded the park and planted exte ...

, a country house near

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

in Somerset. The house was then owned by Consolidated Gold Fields. Consolidated Gold Fields was a company with interests in South Africa which is the subject of sanctions by other nations. In one scene, Young and Rudolf Agnew, chairman of Consolidated Gold Fields, leave their offices in London and are mobbed by anti-apartheid protesters who batter and chase their car, unaware that the two men are sponsoring the very talks that are leading to the end of the system they oppose. In an interview on BBC Radio 4's ''Today'' programme on 24 April 2009, Michael Young mentioned how he had been asked by Thabo Mbeki to write the final chapter of the 2003 book by Robert Harvey on the ''Fall of Apartheid'', the chapter titled "Endgame", on which this film is based.

Cast

, professor of philosophy at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

, director of information for the African National Congress *

as Michael Young, director of communications for Consolidated Gold Fields * Mark Strong as

Niel Barnard Lukas Daniel Barnard (born 1949), known as Niël Barnard, is a former head of South Africa's National Intelligence Service and was notable for his behind-the-scenes role in preparing former president Nelson Mandela and former South African pr ...

, head of the National Intelligence Service *

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as '' Hamlet'', '' Much Ado About Nothing'', '' Macbeth'', '' Twelfth Night'', '' The Tempest'', ' ...

as Rudolph Agnew, chairman of Consolidated Gold Fields *

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carte ...

P.W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and ...

State President of South Africa The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...

* Matthew Marsh as

F.W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...

Ramon Tikaram Ramon Tikaram is a British stage and screen actor of Indo-Fijian and Southeast Asian descent. He is known for playing such roles as Ferdy in the BBC television series '' This Life'' and Qadim Shah in the BBC One soap opera '' EastEnders''. Ea ...

Aziz Pahad Dr. Aziz Pahad (born 25 December 1940) is a South African politician, who served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2008, he currently serves as an MP for Johannesburg West Highlands. He is the brother of Essop Pahad. Education A ...

, international arm of ANC *

Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

* Danny Scheinmann as

Albie Sachs Albert "Albie" Louis Sachs (born 30 January 1935) is a South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela. Early life and education Albie Sachs was born on ...

, anti-apartheid activist * Patrick Lyster as

Sampie Terreblanche Solomon Johannes "Sampie" Terreblanche (17 April 1933 – 17 February 2018) was a South African academic economist and writer, author of numerous economics books and was most famous for his ''History of Inequality in South Africa, 1652–2002' ...

, professor of economics at Stellenbosch University * Stephen Jennings as

Kobie Coetsee Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee (19 April 1931 – 29 July 2000), known as Kobie Coetsee, was a South African lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to universal democracy. Biograph ...

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

John Kani Bonisile John Kani (born 30 August 1943) is a South African actor, author, director and playwright. He is known for portraying T'Chaka in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016) and ''Black Panther'' (2018), ...

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Higher education Oliv ...

, the former President of the

* Faith Ndukwana as

Winnie Mandela Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She ser ...

, spouse of Mandela

Production

The film has its roots in a discussion between Daybreak Pictures executive producer David Aukin and former

Director General of the BBC The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC (for the period of 1927 to 2007) and then th ...

Greg Dyke Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist, and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing ' ...

; when Dyke told Aukin that he wanted to make a documentary about the secret talks that ended apartheid, Aukin suggested turning it into a drama instead. Aukin had previously produced the acclaimed political drama ''

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' ( rus, links=no, Ревизор, Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist, Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the pl ...

''. Aukin and his production partner Hal Vogel contacted Paula Milne to write the script. She spent 18 months on the screenplay and researched the history of the talks by speaking to Thabo Mbeki and Michael Young in South Africa.Vogel, Hal (7 April 2009).
On Location: Endgame
. Broadcastnow (Emap Media). Retrieved on 7 April 2009. Pete Travis, director of '' Omagh'' (2004) and ''

'' (2008), was sent the script by Milne. Travis was not interested in directing a historical drama about recent events and decided to turn the film into a political thriller.Kemp, Stuart (4 November 2008).
Q&A: Pete Travis
. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (Nielsen Business Media). William Hurt and Chiwetel Ejiofor were first to be cast. Hurt, who played President Henry Ashton in ''Vantage Point'', was cast as Will Esterhuyse because Travis wanted to cast actors he had worked with before. Other actors were interested in the part even after Hurt had signed on. Travis wanted to work with Ejiofor, who was his first choice for the part of Thabo Mbeki. Location scouting in South Africa was done in January 2008. Rehearsals began on 14 April 2008 and scenes set in the UK were filmed for the rest of the month at a large country house near

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is east ...

. The production moved to

in May, where location filming was done for six weeks. Production wrapped in August.Thorpe, Vanessa (17 August 2008).
How secret talks killed off apartheid
. ''The Observer'' (Guardian News and Media): p. 23.Kemp, Stuart (7 May 2008).
Pete Travis' 'Endgame' beginning
. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (Nielsen Business Media).

Martin Phipps Martin Phipps (born 1 August 1968) is a British composer, who has worked on numerous film and television projects. Life and career He is the son of Sue Pears and Jack Phipps, an arts administrator who had previously founded a management agen ...

composed the film soundtrack. The final cut of the film was completed on 24 December 2008.

Release

Target Entertainment sold the international theatrical distribution rights in 2008 at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

and the

American Film Market The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more than ...

for release in 2009. ''Endgame'' had its world premiere on 18 January 2009 at the

, in the International Narrative Feature Films category. The film was originally slated to be a major part of

's "Apartheid Season", and was previously scheduled for broadcast in mid-2008.Hemley, Matthew (26 March 2008).
C4 season to feature apartheid thriller Endgame
. The Stage Online. Retrieved on 17 April 2008. It premiered in the UK at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in March and was broadcast on Channel 4 on 4 May. It had its American television premiere on 25 October 2009 on Masterpiece Contemporary on PBS. This was followed by a theatrical release on 30 October through

Monterey Media Monterey Media Inc. (formerly The Monterey Movie Company) started as a home video company founded in 1982 by Scott Mansfield. It was initially financed by Noel C. Bloom, and the titles were distributed by the Family Home Entertainment subsidiary o ...

in select U.S. cities.

Reception

Overnight ratings indicated that ''Endgame''s first Channel 4 broadcast was seen by 837,000 viewers (a 3.9% audience share). 64,000 more watched on Channel 4's one-hour timeshift service, Channel 4+1. A repeat on the evening of 9 May got 336,000 viewers (1.7% share) on Channel 4 and 35,000 on Channel 4+1. The film's reception was mixed.

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported that 71% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 6.46/10. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' praised Lee Miller's performance but argued that "the elements never quite cohered". The newspaper concluded that the script "seemed too fuzzy in its focus, and also too eager to write history with an unambiguously broad brush." Other publications praised the film. In contrast with the Telegraph, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' praised the script "Paula Milne's script skilfully interspersed talk with action". ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' rated the film four out of five stars. It also won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 2009.69th Annual Peabody Awards
May 2010.

References

External links

* Official website was http://www.endgame-themovie.com/ but now seems unregistered.

official PBS website
Endgame at DayBreak Pictures, Producers.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Endgame 2009 television films 2009 films British drama films Apartheid films Films about racism Films about race and ethnicity Cold War films Films set in South Africa Peabody Award-winning broadcasts Films directed by Pete Travis Films about Nelson Mandela Cultural depictions of Nelson Mandela Cultural depictions of Winnie Mandela Cultural depictions of F. W. de Klerk Xhosa-language films Afrikaans-language films Films shot in South Africa 2000s English-language films 2000s British films