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Kumalo questions Gertrude about the whereabouts
of his son. Her only lead is that he was often seen in the company
of his cousin, the son of Kumalo's brother, JOHN, JOHN KUMALO
(Charles S. Dutton) is quite well known around Johannesburg as
a political activist and organiser. He no longer believes in the
church or in God, and he also seems to have little care for his
own son. A few clues from John puts Kumalo on the path of finding
Absalom, This callous reunion with his brother is also painful
to
Kumalo, but it is nothing compared to the betrayal that will come.
Following his leads, Kumalo discovers that Absalom
appears to be a thief who is constantly skirting the law. The
trail soon leads to a reform school where he i5 supposedly imprisoned,
but the warder there tells Kumaio that Absalom did quite weii
at the school and was released. For the first time, Kumaio swells
slightly with pride, but the warder informs him that he was also
released because he has made a woman pregnant out of wedlock,
and the reform school determined that he wanted to stay with the
woman and raise the child properly.
Disheartened by the news, but at long last within
reach, Kumalo goes to see his son and his "family". He is further
disappointed to learn that Absalom's "wife" has not seen Absalom
for the past three days. Enraged, Kumalo is sure that his son
has abandoned this pregnant girl, and that the girl is no better
than Absalom. On the point of giving up hope and going home/ Kumalo
next hears the news of the murder of white social reformer ARTHUR
JARVtS, a family man dedicated to the overthrow of the apartheid
system and to giving the black native population a fair shake.
Kumalo knew Arthur as a small boy, because Arthur is the son of
JAMES JARVIS (Richard Harris), a well-to-do Afrikaans farmer from
Kumalo's province, and a staunch rightist who holds none of his
son's liberal beliefs.
Something about this murder upsets Kumalo, and
he deeply fears the news of it. Msimangu warns him that he should
not jump to conclusions, with so many crimes taking place in Johannesburg.
But Kumalo's intuition proves right, and when the suspects are
caught for the murder, they turn out to be Kumalo's nephew (his
brother John's son), and, worst of all, his own son Absalom. Now
begins the really painful reunion of father and son. The one,
a devout priest, and the other an imprisoned murderer. But Absalom
turns out to be a frightened young man with a hint of his father's
heart. He tells his father the truth, that it was he who shot
Jan/is, but he did it accidentally, because when Jan/is came down
the steps and
shouted, Absalom was frightened - and somehow the gun went off.
Kumalo is naively brightened by the news. He thinks
that he may have a cw, and he appeals ro his brother, John for
help. But John is more intere5ted in the fact the Absalom is confessing
to the shooting - he sees it solely as a way to get his own son
of the hook - and he turns his back on his own brother. The case
that John and his son take to court helps to convict Absalom of
the murder - with the sentence being death by hanging. John's
son is released.
Kumalo seeks out his son's common law wife, KATIE
(Leieti Knumalo), and arranges for the two of them to marry in
prison. Kumalo promises to take his new daughter-in-law back to
Natal and to help her bring up the child. But meanwhile, to add
further injury/ Gertrude runs off from the house where she was
staying and abandons her own illegitimate son. Kumalo decides
to return home with his new nephew as welt and take responsibility
for him.
But before he leaves, he must do an errand for
a friend in Natal- This friend, has also not heard from his daughter
5ince she moved to Johannesburg. Kumalo goes to the house in question
where a white family, also from Natal lives. They were her former
employers/ but have not seen the girl in many months. However,
this home, by coincidence, is also where James Jarvis happens
to be staying in Johannesburg while looking after his murdered
son's effects. -;
In the heartwrenching scene the two srar-crossed
men, Kumalo and Jarvis, meet. And Kumaio painfully confesses that
they know each olher from the village (thought they've never officially
met), and that it was his son, Absalom, who killed jams' son,
Arthur.
Jarvis is actually moved by the pained, devout,
poor priest from his own homeland. In going through Arthur's possessions,
and reading his works, and hearing how he was admired by so many
people, Jarvis, too, has come to an emotional cross-road, and
has come to better understand not only his son/ but the injustice
of his own country. The two men part without words, both confused
and upset by the encounter. Kumalo returns to Natat, feeling defeated
and not worthy of being his people's spiritual leader, but, surprisingly,
he finds that the village is even more strongly behind him for
the enormous cross he has had to bear, for the noble way he has
borne his suffering, and for the grandness of his heart in bringing
his nephew and daughter-in- law into his life. He continues as
the father of his small village, awaiting the day of Absalom's
execution in order to go into the mountains and pray.
Then one day a rain storm brings a visitor to Kumalo's
church - James Jarvis. Jarvis sits in Kumalo's leaky church and
the two men come to terms with each other, and with the unavoidably
tragic events that have finally put these two neighbours in the
same room at the same time. At what for them is the highest possible
cost - the toss of their sons - they have somehow come to understand,
appreciate, and even value the life and the struggle of each other.
When he leaves, Jarvis promises to build a new church, for
Kumalo and his people.
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