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Proteus
- Director: John Greyson; Jack Lewis
- Writer: John Greyson; Jack Lewis
- Producer: Damon D'Oliveira; John Greyson
CGiii Comment
Greyson's imagination and inventiveness are unbridled - fusing centuries together with remarkable effect.
The lead performances are flawless - telling a deeply moving story that is based on fact.
We certainly do come from a hideous history.
This film is indeed testament to Greyson's talent - for, it is exceptional in every way.
Long may he make films, his originality is his trademark and very, very few directors can have such a boast.
A hugely important piece.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
A recreation of the decade-long love affair in the 18th century in a Cape Town penal colony on Robben Island. The two lovers were a Dutch sailor imprisoned there for sodomy and a young Khoi herder. The Khoi were part of the Hottentot tribal group and as such were the untouchables of that time. The two were placed on trial and this love affair and the legal battles are the grist of Greyson and Lewis' film based partly on court transcripts from the time. In South Africa, during the 1700s, sodomy was a crime deemed worse than murder, and the fact that these two young men had indulged in it was also complicated by the fact that this was an interracial love affair.
Cast & Characters
Rouxnet Brown as Claas Blank;
Shaun Smyth as Virgil Niven;
Neil Sandilands as Rijkhaart Jacobz;
Kristen Thomson as Kate;
Tessa Jubber as Elize;
Terry Norton as Betsy;
Adrienne Pierce as Tinnie;
Grant Swanby as Willer;
Brett Goldin as Lourens;
A.J. van der Merwe as Settler;
Dean Lotz as Governor;
Jeroen Kranenburg as Scholz;
Johan Jacobs as Nama Prisoner;
Katrina Kaffer as Kaness;
Kwanda Malunga as Claas