is a 1991 British feature-length documentary film directed by Nick Broomfield, set in the final years of apartheid in South Africa. It centres on Eugène Terre’Blanche, the founder and leader of the far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB, or Afrikaner Resistance Movement), a neo-Nazi-style white supremacist organisation known for its militant opposition to the African National Congress (ANC), Nelson Mandela, and the reforms under President F.W. de Klerk.
The title alludes to Peter Greenaway’s 1989 film The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. Much of the film ends up focusing less on Terre’Blanche himself and more on his personal driver, J.P. (JP) Meyer, and Meyer’s wife, Anita, because Broomfield repeatedly fails to secure a straightforward interview with the leader.
Background and Production
Broomfield, known for his participatory, often confrontational documentary style (sometimes described as “faux-naïve” or deliberately awkward), set out to examine the AWB during a period when white right-wing resistance to the end of apartheid was intensifying. The AWB was a paramilitary-leaning group that staged rallies, engaged in intimidation, and promoted Afrikaner nationalism mixed with overt racism and conspiracy theories. Terre’Blanche was a theatrical figure who recited poetry, delivered fiery speeches, and cultivated an image of authoritarian grandeur.
Filming took place primarily in 1990–1991. Broomfield and his small crew (including producer Rieta/Rita Oord and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd) trailed Terre’Blanche to rallies and events, but the leader repeatedly cancelled or obstructed planned interviews. Access came largely through JP Meyer, a prominent AWB member and Terre’Blanche’s chauffeur, who had recently been released from prison in connection with alleged white terrorist activities linked to figures such as Piet Rudolph. Anita Meyer, JP’s wife and a nurse/health worker, also feature prominently.
The film was produced by Lafayette Films for Channel 4’s True Stories strand and first broadcast in the UK on 4 April 1991. It runs approximately 72–85 minutes (sources vary slightly) and is in English and Afrikaans. It drew an average of about 2.3 million viewers on Channel 4 and was later released on DVD (often paired with Broomfield’s 2006 follow-up His Big White Self). It received a BAFTA nomination for the Flaherty Documentary Award.
Style, Content, and Key Themes
Broomfield’s approach is characteristically self-reflexive and satirical. He appears on camera, asks pointed or seemingly naive questions, and lets the subjects’ own words and behaviour reveal contradictions, absurdities, and ugliness. Critics have described it as an “anti-Triumph of the Will”—a deliberate undercutting of fascist self-importance through humour, awkwardness, and persistent camera presence rather than straightforward denunciation.
Key elements include:
- Attempts to interview Terre’Blanche: The leader’s evasions, delays, and eventual confrontations form a running motif. When an interview finally occurs (facilitated by JP), it becomes a memorable, often comically deflating encounter in which Terre’Blanche’s carefully cultivated menace is undermined.
- JP Meyer: Portrayed as a loyal but somewhat hapless follower. He expresses racial prejudice, discusses conspiracy theories (including antisemitic ones involving “Rockefellers and Oppenheimers”), and talks about an impending white revolt, sometimes in incongruous settings (e.g., in his underpants). His relationship with the film crew creates tension with Terre’Blanche.
- Anita Meyer: JP’s wife is depicted as more pragmatic and, in some ways, chillingly matter-of-fact. She works in healthcare and is shown discussing the distribution of condoms and sterilisation efforts aimed at Black women as a means of addressing demographic concerns from a white supremacist perspective. She is less deferential toward Terre’Blanche than her husband and displays everyday racism (e.g., reacting positively at a rally to a child’s statement about hitting Black children at school).
- AWB activities: Rallies, speeches denouncing the ANC and de Klerk, youth combat training, firearms practice (with notable safety lapses), and the broader atmosphere of racial hostility and paranoia among supporters.
- Comic and sinister tones: Scenes of bombastic oratory, bizarre cultural moments (such as a Boer band performing a heavily accented version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark”), and the gap between the movement’s grandiose self-image and its often farcical reality sit alongside genuine intimidation and hate.
The film highlights how fascist or extreme nationalist movements depend not only on charismatic leaders but also on ordinary followers whose loyalty, prejudices, and daily lives sustain them. It captures the AWB at a moment when its power and relevance were already beginning to erode as South Africa moved toward negotiated transition.
Reception, Controversies, and Legacy
Contemporary and later reviews often praise the film as both hilarious and disturbing—a “black comedy about the white right.” It has been called a comic masterpiece that effectively lampoons fascism while exposing its real dangers. Viewers note Broomfield’s skill at goading subjects into revealing themselves without the film itself becoming purely propagandistic.
It was involved in a high-profile 1992 libel case brought by South African journalist Jani Allan (sometimes described as “the libel case of the summer”), related to content or implications in the film.
In 2006 Broomfield returned to the subject with His Big White Self, which revisits the AWB’s later trajectory, Terre’Blanche’s declining influence, and the aftermath of the earlier film (including violence associated with the movement). The two films are often paired.
The documentary remains a notable example of Broomfield’s early mature style and a historical document of a specific far-right response to the end of apartheid. It is available for streaming in some regions (e.g., free with ads on Channel 4 in the UK at times) and has screened at festivals including IDFA.
Overall, the film balances dark humour with serious observation of racism, authoritarianism, and the psychology of followers in a collapsing political order. It does not romanticise or excuse its subjects; instead, it lets their words and actions speak while the filmmaker’s presence keeps the critique sharp
