Endgame Page #5

Synopsis: A story based on the covert discussions that brought down the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
Genre: Drama, History
Director(s): Pete Travis
Production: Monterey Media
  Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 14 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.3
Metacritic:
55
Rotten Tomatoes:
71%
PG-13
Year:
2009
109 min
Website
856 Views


convinced me that the only way...

of doing that now is to give some

of it away and negotiate.

Before it's taken from us.

You've been detained

long enough, Doctor.

Gentlemen, shall we?

Help us end Apartheid now!

I doubt we're looking at

the Messiah of change.

De Klerk is a life long

apologist for apartheid.

Presumably that's why his party

chose him.

Names for the next meeting.

I've added a new one.

- Mix things up a bit.

- Willem De Klerk?

- Yes, the President's brother.

- How prescient of you.

I'm hoping he's got

his brother's ear.

Unlike F.W.,

he's on record condemning apartheid.

What if his brother vetoes his

attendance? Along with Esterhuyse?

Esterhuyse is committed now.

Nothing will keep him away.

Unless his passport is revoked.

This is the Esterhuyse residence.

We're not home right now.

If you leave a message.

We'll call you back.

And you're sure that

he's nowhere in the University?

I've tried him at home.

Thabo. Tony. Aziz.

Good to see you again.

- The others aren't here yet?

- They will be. They will be.

If he contacts you,

or if you see him...

tell him to call Michael Young

as soon as possible.

I'll be waiting by the phone.

Tell him that I can't see him now.

The President will be unable

to see you today after all, Doctor.

His diary secretary will

be in touch, sir.

Bloody highway pile-up.

Stuck there for hours.

Gentlemen.

- Michael Young, Mr De Klerk.

- How do you do?

Willem De Klerk, Journalist and

political commentator, Thabo Mbeki.

- Pleased to meet you.

- Pleasure, sir.

Shall we?

You had us worried there.

You don't get rid of me that easily.

My dear friend and comrade.

I cannot tell you my relief

to hear from you at last.

Had you contacted me before,

I could have warned you...

that yours are not the only talks

taking place with the Government.

Your release is high on the agenda

of those discussions.

Given the hard line position

of the new State President...

the future of those talks

must now hang in the balance.

Call it what it is, Willie.

Minority rights, equals white rights.

In other words, you want us to

ensure...

the privileges whites enjoy

are perpetuated.

The idea of group rights is that

no group has dominance over another.

White or black.

Isn't that what your non-racial

credo is all about?

But without assurance of that...

the President will never come

to the negotiating table.

Is that not so, Willem?

That's not for me to say, Professor.

De Klerk's brother

doesn't give much away.

He frequently points out he's

not his brother's keeper.

He barely got his feet under

the table, give him time.

Time is the enemy.

Every day he procrastinates,

is one closer to bloody insurrection.

What is Barnard's sense of him?

Barnard's access to the President's

office is not what it used to be.

We must rely on his brother

for that now.

I thought we might discuss your

impressions of the day, Willem?

I've some excellent brandy

in my room.

Another night, perhaps.

My dear friend...

our struggle is now at a tipping

point, as is our country.

We must try and convince De Klerk

and his government...

that the whites have nothing

to fear from us.

It is not revenge that governs

us, but reconciliation.

We must use every method open

to us to make him understand...

that unless he acts soon,

we cannot deliver.

What is he waiting for?

How many more weeks,

how many more months until he acts?

And where is he on Mandela? Can he not

see the longer he keeps him in prison...

the more time he is giving

for mob rule to take hold?

Exactly!

I do not have the answers

you're looking for, Mr Mbeki.

My brother is not in the habit of

confiding in me about Government policy.

Or anyone else, it seems.

Yes.

Yes, I understand well.

Are you absolutely sure?

We can't put it like that.

Yes, it's important, but

it's a waste of time.

I apologise. I lost track of...

Shall we start by returning to

the outstanding items from yesterday?

I wonder...

Do you mind, I'm sorry?

On behalf of my brother, I have

some issues for clarification.

If you will bear with me.

One...

when would it be possible for

the ANC to embark on talks...

about how to progress formal

negotiations with the Government?

Two.

What would your preconditions

be to such talks...

and, three... what agenda

would be acceptable to you?

You can... tell the President...

there will be no preconditions

on our side...

and we leave it to him

to determine the agenda.

As for timing...

we are ready when he is.

And your position on the cease

fire of violence?

We would order that all violence

be suspended...

while negotiations take place.

When a new constitution

has been agreed...

we will give the instruction that

the armed struggle...

is to be abandoned.

Oliver.

Thabo.

Would you read this for me, please?

"Although we have been apart

all these years..."

It's as if I've been conducting

a lifelong conversation...

with you in my head.

All I pray now, is that you recover

so, God willing...

we can continue it face to face.

As for my freedom...

it is a secondary matter

until you are strong again.

And, until all those imprisoned

have won theirs.

I must be the last

to gain his liberty.

He wouldn't give a name,

much less take no for an answer.

Esterhuyse.

I suppose the weather's

the usual crap?

Is that what you called to discuss?

What time is it over there?

- Noon.

- Turn on your TV. 2 pm, your time.

Now, as we wait for what's been

billed as an historic address.

Let's reflect on the momentous events

of the past few months.

The tearing down of the Berlin Wall

and the end of the Cold War.

But, South Africa has had many

false dawns.

So many speeches which have promised

so much, yet delivered so little.

Here now is President De Klerk

flanked by his cabinet.

As he makes his way to the podium,

all of South Africa...

and indeed the world,

holds it's breath.

My Government has taken the decision

to immediately and unconditionally...

release Mr Nelson Mandela.

I've also instructed that the

prohibition...

of the African National Congress

the Pan African Congress...

and the South African Communist

Party be immediately lifted.

The time has come to negotiate.

The hopes of millions

of South Africans...

will be centred on that process.

We must not falter.

We dare not fail.

Thank you.

We go now to Victor Verster Prison,

where Mr Mandela...

the man who's been imprisoned

for nearly three decades...

appearing in public...

for the first time, any moment now.

International media perched.

The crowd getting excited.

That's him.

And there is Mister Mandela.

Nelson Mandela. A free man.

Taking his first steps into

a new South Africa.

Mrs Winnie Mandela next to him

waving to the crowds.

And a salute

from Mr Nelson Mandela.

His wife greeting the people who have

been waiting for so long for this day.

This is the man that the world's

been waiting to see.

Rate this script:4.3 / 3 votes

Robert Harvey

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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