Hasten Slowly: The Journey of Sir Laurens van der Post (1997)

• 71%
• 1997
• Documentary
• Mickey Lemle

As a young journalist, Van der Post chafed at the system of apartheid, and went on to unsuccessfully fight for the preservation of the Bushman (San) culture through a BBC film he made in the Kalahari Desert. That documentary is excerpted in this one, and he expands on the experience with filmmaker Mickey Lemle. Van der Post also recollects his time as a soldier in WWII when he was taken prisoner by the Japanese in Java. A couple of fellow veterans join him in recounting the brutality of the Japanese and the horrors of their internment, and their efforts to start a school for the soldiers during their captivity. Van der Post's eloquent observations on human nature in both situations make this film worthwhile.