''Blind Justice'' (also known as ''Hold My Hand I'm Dying'') is a 1988
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
Terence Ryan
Terence Ryan is a British film director, writer, and producer.
He has written, directed and produced eight feature films and he has also produced and directed an enormous variety of television programs and television series ranging from serious ...
and starring
Christopher Cazenove,
Oliver Reed
Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...
, Patrick Shai, and
Edita Brychta
Edita Brychta is a British actress.
Early life
Brychta began acting as a young child in the Czech film Kinoautomat, the world's first interactive movie, which was presented at Expo 67 in Montreal. At the age of 16, she joined London's Nationa ...
. It was written by
Mark Ezra. Based on the 1967 book ''Hold My Hand I'm Dying'' by
John Gordon Davis, it was commercially released in Italy in October 1988.
Plot
When the British territory of
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...
issues a unilateral
declaration of independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...
(UDI) in 1965, it means freedom and hope for some; despair, fear, and death for others. The one thing certain is that nobody can escape the changes it will bring - least of all Joseph Mahoney, the last colonial commissioner in
Kariba Gorge
Kariba Gorge is a large, natural gorge through which flowed the Zambezi River on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, Africa. In 1959 the large double arch concrete Kariba Dam was completed, completely filling the gorge and creating the largest ma ...
, who finds himself charged with a vast region thrown into turmoil as UDI becomes reality. With the assistance of
Afrikaner naturalist Suzie de Villiers (whose abusive Calvinist
Boer
Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...
father does not want her around Joseph because Joseph is English) and his loyal
Ndebele
Ndebele may refer to:
*Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa
*Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana
Languages
* Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele
*Northern Ndebele language
Northern ...
employee Sampson, Mahoney finds himself struggling to see justice administered to all despite unsympathetic colonists, tribal intrigues, and a mounting
rural insurgency. Meanwhile, Sampson finds himself torn between his commitment to
ZAPU
The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with the Zimb ...
nationalists and his friendship with Joseph. After Mahoney settles permanently in Rhodesia on Suzie's farm,
ZIPRA
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), a Marxist–Leninist political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhode ...
orders Sampson to bomb the homestead; the latter is appalled, and only carries out his attack when his employers are away.
Captured by the
Rhodesian Security Forces
The Rhodesian Security Forces were the military forces of the Rhodesian government. The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of a ground force (the Rhodesian Army), the Rhodesian Air Force, the British South Africa Police, and various personnel a ...
, Sampson now stands trial for attempted murder - while Joseph leads an increasingly desperate race against the clock to secure a pardon, win back an estranged Suzie, and try to stop his adopted homeland from being plunged into a fresh wave of bloodletting and vengeance.
Cast
*
Christopher Cazenove as Joseph Mahoney
*
Edita Brychta
Edita Brychta is a British actress.
Early life
Brychta began acting as a young child in the Czech film Kinoautomat, the world's first interactive movie, which was presented at Expo 67 in Montreal. At the age of 16, she joined London's Nationa ...
as Suzie de Villiers
*
Oliver Reed
Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...
as Ballinger
* Patrick Shai
*
Henry Cele as Kamisu
Production
''Blind Justice'' was filmed in the
Mashonaland region of northeastern
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
and in the area around the
Bumi Hills area near
Lake Kariba
Lake Kariba is the world's largest artificial lake and reservoir by volume. It lies upstream from the Indian Ocean, along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Lake Kariba was filled between 1958 and 1963 following the completion of the Karib ...
where the story is set.
Music and soundtrack
The song "Paradise Road" that appears in the film was sung by
Dobie Gray
Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Darrow Brown; July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter whose musical career spanned soul, country, pop, and musical theater. His hit songs included " The 'In' Crowd" in 1965 and "Dri ...
. The music for the film was by Julian Laxton, Fransua Roos, and Patric van Blerk.
[CINESERIES.net ]
Blind Justice, Créditos, Música
/ref>
See also
References
External links
*
*
* {{IMDb title, 0094759, Blind Justice
1980s war drama films
Films set in 1958
Films set in 1965
Rhodesian Bush War films
Cold War films
British war drama films
Films set in Rhodesia
Films based on Zimbabwean novels
Films about racism
Films about race and ethnicity
1980s English-language films
Films directed by Terence Ryan
1980s British films