I have known Rhodes to be the father of oppression in southern Africa. A man of his time maybe, but one who did so much to create so much suffering, that I thought it impossible, that a biopic of him would fascinate me, but it did. Here we see a man driven by ambition, by disgust over his fellow humans, white or black. He is portrayed not as a person with whom you would like to identify yourself, but whose inner workings and motivations you want to know. This is the true greatness of the script. It entices you to involve yourself with a man, who stands wholeheartedly for a thoroughly black page in history.
coupled to that it is a superb costume drama, with well developed secondary characters of whom I would like to mention by name: Ken Stott as Barney Barnato
To sum it up. This film will not make you hate Rhodes any less than you did before, but it does help you to understand the fascination he created in his own day.
