The Recce review – crossing enemy lines in South African action-drama

An elite soldier is sent on a perilous solo mission in this underwhelming drama set during the Namibian war of independence

This South African-made action-drama unfolds against the background of a conflict little known about above the equator, much less used as a setting for film - the Namibian war of independence from 1966-90, AKA the South African border war. Often considered South Africa's version of Vietnam, it was, among other things, a proxy fight between South Africa, then still under apartheid, and its allies at the time, and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia, who were backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba.

Although there's a fair amount of on-screen contextualising in the opening minutes to explain key terms and ideas, The Recce feels made for a local audience that has a grasp of the cultural and historical background. That means it's not easy for outsiders to read the ideology of this stylised, fictional account of an elite Afrikaner soldier, Henk Viljoen (Greg Kriek), the recce", who is ordered to go across enemy lines alone one last time to kill a Russian officer. Henk leaves behind his pregnant wife Nicola (Christia Visser), with whom we spend a lot of screen time as she looks anxious, remembers happier moments in her marriage and visits Henk's parents, who are sick with worry about their son. In the narrative mix is Captain Le Roux (Grant Swanby), an English-speaking South African officer who is also worried about Henk and the general madness of the war.