This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/13/plot-for-peace-apartheid-south-africa-review

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Plot for Peace review – Intriguing documentary about South Africa's secret history Plot for Peace review – Intriguing documentary about South Africa's secret history
(30 days later)
See if this film is playing near you
Here is an intriguing documentary, with some impressive talking heads, all about the secret history of South Africa and the end of apartheid. But I wonder if a great deal is still being withheld about its leading player, an urbane, cigar-smoking, wheeler-dealer Frenchman named Jean-Yves Ollivier who might have stepped from the pages of a Frederick Forsyth novel. (He reminded me of the controversial lawyer Jacques Vergès, the subject of Barbet Schroeder's 2007 documentary Terror's Advocate.) In the 1980s and 1990s, Ollivier had built up a network of contacts as an international commodities trader. He had charm, style and a knack for cutting deals, and he could do discreet business with various leaders with whom European politicians did not care to associate. So Ollivier offered his services as a secret envoy, first to France and then to apartheid South Africa, flying around the continent at his own expense, helping to broker the 1988 Brazzaville Protocol. In return for the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola, South Africa agreed to allow Namibia independence. These moves dramatically lessened South Africa's horror of Soviet communist incursion, and vitally created a new mood of relaxation that made possible Nelson Mandela's release. Remarkably, Ollivier was honoured by the former white South African leader PW Botha and then Mandela. What was he getting out of it? Thrills, excitement? Was he making money on the side? Maybe. But was he motivated by anti-apartheid feeling? Ollivier is a little opaque on that point. It's a fascinating story.Here is an intriguing documentary, with some impressive talking heads, all about the secret history of South Africa and the end of apartheid. But I wonder if a great deal is still being withheld about its leading player, an urbane, cigar-smoking, wheeler-dealer Frenchman named Jean-Yves Ollivier who might have stepped from the pages of a Frederick Forsyth novel. (He reminded me of the controversial lawyer Jacques Vergès, the subject of Barbet Schroeder's 2007 documentary Terror's Advocate.) In the 1980s and 1990s, Ollivier had built up a network of contacts as an international commodities trader. He had charm, style and a knack for cutting deals, and he could do discreet business with various leaders with whom European politicians did not care to associate. So Ollivier offered his services as a secret envoy, first to France and then to apartheid South Africa, flying around the continent at his own expense, helping to broker the 1988 Brazzaville Protocol. In return for the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola, South Africa agreed to allow Namibia independence. These moves dramatically lessened South Africa's horror of Soviet communist incursion, and vitally created a new mood of relaxation that made possible Nelson Mandela's release. Remarkably, Ollivier was honoured by the former white South African leader PW Botha and then Mandela. What was he getting out of it? Thrills, excitement? Was he making money on the side? Maybe. But was he motivated by anti-apartheid feeling? Ollivier is a little opaque on that point. It's a fascinating story.