The Story of an African Farm

SYNOPSIS

If it weren't for the eccentric presence of Richard E Grant, this old-fashioned family drama set in the 1870s would be a lacklustre affair. He adds much-needed colour as con artist Bonaparte Blenkins - a Dickensian-style villain who appears at the remote South African farm of religious bigot Tant Sannie (a pantomimic Karin van der Laag) and proceeds to make life doubly unbearable for the three children residing there. Buffoonish idiosyncrasies dissolve into black-hearted spite, as the conman's true intentions emerge. But though the tale depicts the darker, more disturbing aspects of Victorian author Olive Schreiner's source novel, they're undermined by the predominantly comic tone. As a result, the narrative is bitty and emotionally uneven, while the conclusion feels far too convenient.