Drum (2004 film)
Encyclopedia
Drum is a 2004 film based on the life of South Africa
n investigative journalist Henry Nxumalo
, who worked for the popular Drum magazine, called "the first black lifestyle magazine in Africa." It was director Zola Maseko
's first film and deals with the issues of apartheid and the forced removal of residents from Sophiatown. The film was originally to be a six-part television series called Sophiatown Short Stories, though Maseko could not get the funding. The lead roles of Henry Nxumalo and Drum main photographer Jürgen Schadeberg
were played by American actors Taye Diggs
and Gabriel Mann, while most of the rest of the cast were South African actors.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
in September 2004, and proceeded to do the rounds of international film festivals before going on general release in South Africa in July 2006. It was released in Europe, but failed to get a distributor for the USA where it went straight to DVD.
The film was generally well received critically. Most of the negative reviews were based on the quality of Maseko's directing and Jason Filardi's screenwriting. It was awarded Best South African Film at the Durban International Film Festival
, and director Maseko gained the top prize at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou
(FESPACO).
— one of the few areas in South Africa where blacks could own property and drink alcoholic beverages. Drum begins with the central character, sportswriter Henry Nxumalo
, reporting on a boxing match with Nelson Mandela
. Nxumalo leaves his wife Florence at home while going out into his community's night life and has an affair with a female singer. He works for Drum magazine, which was "the first black lifestyle magazine in Africa." The magazine was financed by whites and had a multiracial staff; it was popular among the black community. Drums British editor, Jim Bailey
(Jason Flemyng), asks Nxumalo to write on the township crime scene, and Nxumalo, while at first unwilling, finally agrees. While on the job, he encounters Slim (Zola), a gang leader, that he had previously met in illegal township drinking places
, and witnesses him kill a man in Sophiatown.
Initially Nxumalo stays away from political articles, but eventually writes about more than entertainment after his wife and Mandela encourage him. When a young man goes missing at a Boer
farm and is feared enslaved, Nxumalo decides to investigate undercover
. He gets employment as a labourer at the farm, where he is treated like a slave and nearly killed. He becomes a celebrity when his story is published, further reinforced by getting himself in prison and reporting about its conditions. Nxumalo decides that his destiny is to be a muckracker and, with the help of the German photographer Jurgen Schadeberg (Gabriel Mann), ventures on more risky investigations.
Nxumalo frequently fights the racism and apartheid that is beginning to creep into his hometown. He tries to tackle stories important to his society's well-being. However, he is no match to the plan to evict residents and ultimately destroy Sophiatown. Constantly harassed by the government, at the end of the film he is stabbed to death. The attacker has never been identified.
played the lead role of investigative journalist Henry Nxumalo
, with fellow American actor Gabriel Mann as his photographer Jürgen Schadeberg
, and South African Moshidi Motshegwa as his wife, Florence Nxumalo. The South African short-story author, Can Themba
, who also worked with Nxumalo at Drum magazine, was played by the little known South African actor, Tumisho Masha. Apart from the British actor Jason Flemyng
who took the part of Jim Bailey, the ex-R.A.F. pilot who owned Drum, the rest of the parts were taken by South African actors, the best known being Zola
(credited as Bonginkosi Dlamini) playing the part of Slim, the Sophiatown gang leader.
Notable people portrayed in the film include Nelson Mandela
, played by Lindane Nkosi; jazz columnist Todd Matshikiza
played by Fezile Mpela; and the writer Casey Motsisi
played by Thapelo Mokoena.
's first feature film. He originally wanted to tell Sophiatown's story in a six-part television series called Sophiatown Short Stories. Unsuccessful in convincing the South African Television Company to pursue such a series, he decided to change the medium to that of film. He secured a large amount of his funding by convincing Taye Diggs
to fill the lead role.
American screenwriter Jason Filardi was asked to write the script by production company Armada and subsequently "fell in love" with Drums plotline. In preparation for this task, he read books on Nxumalo and the history of South Africa, and stayed for a month in Johannesburg. Filardi said that his work on the film was his fondest experience with the medium. Filming began in May 2004 and lasted for six weeks. On 29 May, producer Dumisani Dlamini died after being shot in the head at his home in Johannesburg
.
The soundtrack was written by Terence Blanchard
and Cédric Gradus Samson. Much of it is a jazz score, which has been called "strong". This is a reflection of the music that was popular during the movie's place and time.
on 10 September 2004. It was the lead film in the festival's Spotlight on South Africa program. The Sundance Film Festival
picked up the film, for its US premiere in January 2005, as did the Cannes Film Festival
in May. On 21 June, Drum was screened at the Boston International Film Festival
during its first session. The film opened the 2005 Munich Filmfest on 25 June.
For his work with Drum, Maseko received the top prize at FESPACO, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, in addition to a cash prize of 10 million CFA francs (US$20,000) at its closing ceremony in March 2005. He was the first South African to do such. In addition, Drum is only the second English language film to have won the Golden Stallion at FESPACO, the first being Kwaw Ansah
's Heritage Africa in 1989.
The film premiered in South Africa at the 26th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) on 17 July 2005 where it won the Best South African Film Award. It was released at 29 South African movie theaters on 22 July. Events to help promote the film included toyi-toyi
dances in various South African market places, and the production crew holding a contest in which South African schoolchildren would have to research a lost community and the winners would get to meet the actors.
Outside film festivals, the first release in the United States was at the Olde Mistick Village theater in Filardi's hometown of Mystic, Connecticut
, on 22 December 2006. Despite wide releases in Europe, Drum did not obtain one in the U.S, mostly due to a failure to find distributors. Instead, it went straight to DVD.
reported that 86% percent of seven critics gave the film positive write-ups, a rating that it considered "Fresh". The critics in its "Cream of the Crop" subset were even more positive; the two that reviewed the film reached a 100% consensus.
Sura Wood of The Hollywood Reporter
called it "an intelligent, moving film steeped in an authentic sense of time and place." Her sentiments were echoed by Joe Leydon
of Variety
, who thought Drum was "an intelligent and affecting take on political radicalization in 1950s Johannesburg." According to Film Threat
's Jeremy Matthews, Drum was "a solid work of classical storytelling." He observed that it was "heartbreaking in its portrayal of Johannesburg at a time when its rulers had convinced many people that whites were born to command and blacks were born to obey and serve."
Critic David Nussair gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and praised Diggs as "fantastic". The supporting actors also delivered "solid" performances. He believed that the film was anything but superfluous, and it moved at a fast pace. While the screenplay was predictable, Maseko's "steady" direction "ensure[d] Drum's place among better-than-average true-life tales." The Arizona Republic disagreed with Nussair's first point, not thinking Diggs looked like a South African. It called the film "a well-meaning but static look at apartheid in the 1950s."
Shadows on the Wall's Rich Kline noted that the storyline was "compelling and eye-opening" and praised the actors as "excellent" and "committed to getting the truth out." He was impressed with the "lively and fascinating sense of local culture" that dominated the film. Kline, who gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, was mainly concerned with the film's "rather clumsy" direction and screenwriting. Maseko directed with "energy and verve," though his "struggles to capture the human drama" led to the impression that Drum was "a clunky TV movie, with awkward camera angles, wonky editing and clumsy sound recording." Filardi was guilty of a dialogue which "echoes with cliches, while contrived plotting put characters into situations that may be true, but they feel corny and movie-like." Kline also criticised the wide variety of political issues that characterised the film, though added that "maybe this helps us begin to understand what life must have been like under such an oppressive government."
One of the most critical reviews was by Francesca Dinglasan of Boxoffice Magazine. Dinglasan, who gave Drum 2.5 out of 5 stars, was unimpressed by the "unoriginal plotting techniques to convey the story of an investigative journalist attempting to expose racial injustices in a society coming to grips with the newly introduced edicts of apartheid." Although Diggs's acting was "engaging", according to her the film "depends on just a few too many big-screen cliches and predictable plot turns." The "richly designed sets and costumes" were not able to overcome the less-than-satisfactory" Drum.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n investigative journalist Henry Nxumalo
Henry Nxumalo
Henry Nxumalo, also known as Henry "Mr Drum" Nxumalo was a South African journalist.- Biography :He was born in 1917 in Margate, Natal, South Africa and attended the Fascadale Mission School...
, who worked for the popular Drum magazine, called "the first black lifestyle magazine in Africa." It was director Zola Maseko
Zola Maseko
Zola Maseko is a Swazi film director and screenwriter. He is noted for his documentary films related to xenophobia.-Biography:Maseko was born in exile in 1967. Educated in Swaziland and Tanzania, he joined Umkhonto We Sizwe, the armed sector of the African National Congress, in 1987...
's first film and deals with the issues of apartheid and the forced removal of residents from Sophiatown. The film was originally to be a six-part television series called Sophiatown Short Stories, though Maseko could not get the funding. The lead roles of Henry Nxumalo and Drum main photographer Jürgen Schadeberg
Jürgen Schadeberg
-Overview:Jürgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin in 1931. In 1950, he moved to South Africa to rejoin his family and joined Drum magazine as official photographer and layout artist....
were played by American actors Taye Diggs
Taye Diggs
Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...
and Gabriel Mann, while most of the rest of the cast were South African actors.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
in September 2004, and proceeded to do the rounds of international film festivals before going on general release in South Africa in July 2006. It was released in Europe, but failed to get a distributor for the USA where it went straight to DVD.
The film was generally well received critically. Most of the negative reviews were based on the quality of Maseko's directing and Jason Filardi's screenwriting. It was awarded Best South African Film at the Durban International Film Festival
Durban International Film Festival
The Durban International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. It is one of the oldest and largest film festival in Southern African and presents over 200 screenings celebrating the best in South African, African and...
, and director Maseko gained the top prize at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou
Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou
The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou is the largest African film festival, held biennially in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The festival is the biggest regular cultural event on the African continent and it mostly focuses on the African film and African filmmakers...
(FESPACO).
Plot
The story is based on real events and real people and is set in the mid-1950s freehold township of Sophiatown, JohannesburgJohannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
— one of the few areas in South Africa where blacks could own property and drink alcoholic beverages. Drum begins with the central character, sportswriter Henry Nxumalo
Henry Nxumalo
Henry Nxumalo, also known as Henry "Mr Drum" Nxumalo was a South African journalist.- Biography :He was born in 1917 in Margate, Natal, South Africa and attended the Fascadale Mission School...
, reporting on a boxing match with Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
. Nxumalo leaves his wife Florence at home while going out into his community's night life and has an affair with a female singer. He works for Drum magazine, which was "the first black lifestyle magazine in Africa." The magazine was financed by whites and had a multiracial staff; it was popular among the black community. Drums British editor, Jim Bailey
James R. A. Bailey
James R. A. Bailey DFC, known as Jim Bailey, , was World War II fighter pilot, poet - and influential newspaper owner.The son of randlord, Sir Abe Bailey and pioneer aviator Mary Bailey, he was educated at Winchester and Oxford and joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot in September 1939...
(Jason Flemyng), asks Nxumalo to write on the township crime scene, and Nxumalo, while at first unwilling, finally agrees. While on the job, he encounters Slim (Zola), a gang leader, that he had previously met in illegal township drinking places
Shebeen
A shebeen was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence.The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Scotland, Canada, the United States, England,...
, and witnesses him kill a man in Sophiatown.
Initially Nxumalo stays away from political articles, but eventually writes about more than entertainment after his wife and Mandela encourage him. When a young man goes missing at a Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
farm and is feared enslaved, Nxumalo decides to investigate undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
. He gets employment as a labourer at the farm, where he is treated like a slave and nearly killed. He becomes a celebrity when his story is published, further reinforced by getting himself in prison and reporting about its conditions. Nxumalo decides that his destiny is to be a muckracker and, with the help of the German photographer Jurgen Schadeberg (Gabriel Mann), ventures on more risky investigations.
Nxumalo frequently fights the racism and apartheid that is beginning to creep into his hometown. He tries to tackle stories important to his society's well-being. However, he is no match to the plan to evict residents and ultimately destroy Sophiatown. Constantly harassed by the government, at the end of the film he is stabbed to death. The attacker has never been identified.
Cast
American actor Taye DiggsTaye Diggs
Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...
played the lead role of investigative journalist Henry Nxumalo
Henry Nxumalo
Henry Nxumalo, also known as Henry "Mr Drum" Nxumalo was a South African journalist.- Biography :He was born in 1917 in Margate, Natal, South Africa and attended the Fascadale Mission School...
, with fellow American actor Gabriel Mann as his photographer Jürgen Schadeberg
Jürgen Schadeberg
-Overview:Jürgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin in 1931. In 1950, he moved to South Africa to rejoin his family and joined Drum magazine as official photographer and layout artist....
, and South African Moshidi Motshegwa as his wife, Florence Nxumalo. The South African short-story author, Can Themba
Can Themba
-Overview:He was born in Marabastad, near Pretoria, but wrote most of his work in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa before it was destroyed under the provisions of the apartheid Group Areas Act....
, who also worked with Nxumalo at Drum magazine, was played by the little known South African actor, Tumisho Masha. Apart from the British actor Jason Flemyng
Jason Flemyng
Jason Iain Flemyng is an English actor. He is known for his film work, which has included roles in British films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch , both for Guy Ritchie, as well as Hollywood productions such as Rob Roy along with the Alan Moore comic book adaptations From...
who took the part of Jim Bailey, the ex-R.A.F. pilot who owned Drum, the rest of the parts were taken by South African actors, the best known being Zola
Zola (entertainer)
Bonginkosi Dlamini, aka Zola, is a South African musician, actor and presenter. He also presents Zola 7, a television show named for him, on SABC 1.-Cultural Influences:...
(credited as Bonginkosi Dlamini) playing the part of Slim, the Sophiatown gang leader.
Notable people portrayed in the film include Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, played by Lindane Nkosi; jazz columnist Todd Matshikiza
Todd Matshikiza
Todd Tozama Matshikiza was a South African jazz pianist, composer and journalist.-Overview:Matshikiza came from a musical family. He graduated from St Peter's College in Rosettenville, Johannesburg and went on to obtain a diploma in music and a teaching diploma. He then taught English and...
played by Fezile Mpela; and the writer Casey Motsisi
Casey Motsisi
Karobo Moses Motsisi better known as Casey Motsisi or Casey 'Kid' Motsisi was a South African short story writer and journalist.He was born in Johannesburg and worked for a time in Pretoria as a teacher....
played by Thapelo Mokoena.
Production
Drum is Zola MasekoZola Maseko
Zola Maseko is a Swazi film director and screenwriter. He is noted for his documentary films related to xenophobia.-Biography:Maseko was born in exile in 1967. Educated in Swaziland and Tanzania, he joined Umkhonto We Sizwe, the armed sector of the African National Congress, in 1987...
's first feature film. He originally wanted to tell Sophiatown's story in a six-part television series called Sophiatown Short Stories. Unsuccessful in convincing the South African Television Company to pursue such a series, he decided to change the medium to that of film. He secured a large amount of his funding by convincing Taye Diggs
Taye Diggs
Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...
to fill the lead role.
American screenwriter Jason Filardi was asked to write the script by production company Armada and subsequently "fell in love" with Drums plotline. In preparation for this task, he read books on Nxumalo and the history of South Africa, and stayed for a month in Johannesburg. Filardi said that his work on the film was his fondest experience with the medium. Filming began in May 2004 and lasted for six weeks. On 29 May, producer Dumisani Dlamini died after being shot in the head at his home in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
.
The soundtrack was written by Terence Blanchard
Terence Blanchard
Terence Oliver Blanchard is an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, and film score composer. Since he emerged on the scene in 1980 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and then shortly thereafter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Blanchard has been a leading artist in jazz...
and Cédric Gradus Samson. Much of it is a jazz score, which has been called "strong". This is a reflection of the music that was popular during the movie's place and time.
Release
Drum premiered at the Toronto International Film FestivalToronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
on 10 September 2004. It was the lead film in the festival's Spotlight on South Africa program. The Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
picked up the film, for its US premiere in January 2005, as did the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in May. On 21 June, Drum was screened at the Boston International Film Festival
Boston International Film Festival
The Boston International Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Boston, Massachusetts which showcases over 90 films annually....
during its first session. The film opened the 2005 Munich Filmfest on 25 June.
For his work with Drum, Maseko received the top prize at FESPACO, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, in addition to a cash prize of 10 million CFA francs (US$20,000) at its closing ceremony in March 2005. He was the first South African to do such. In addition, Drum is only the second English language film to have won the Golden Stallion at FESPACO, the first being Kwaw Ansah
Kwaw Ansah
Kwaw Ansah is an award-winning Ghanaian film-maker, whose work as writer, director or producer includes Love Brewed In An African Pot and Heritage Africa.His creative family includes:* Kofi Ansah - fashion designer...
's Heritage Africa in 1989.
The film premiered in South Africa at the 26th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) on 17 July 2005 where it won the Best South African Film Award. It was released at 29 South African movie theaters on 22 July. Events to help promote the film included toyi-toyi
Toyi-toyi
Toyi-toyi is a Southern African dance originally from Zimbabwe that has long been used in political protests in South Africa.Toyi-toyi could begin as the stomping of feet and spontaneous chanting during protests that could include political slogans or songs, either improvised or previously created...
dances in various South African market places, and the production crew holding a contest in which South African schoolchildren would have to research a lost community and the winners would get to meet the actors.
Outside film festivals, the first release in the United States was at the Olde Mistick Village theater in Filardi's hometown of Mystic, Connecticut
Mystic, Connecticut
Mystic is a village and census-designated place in New London County, Connecticut, in the United States. The population was 4,001 at the 2000 census. A historic locality, Mystic has no independent government because it is not a legally recognized municipality in the state of Connecticut...
, on 22 December 2006. Despite wide releases in Europe, Drum did not obtain one in the U.S, mostly due to a failure to find distributors. Instead, it went straight to DVD.
Reception
Drum was mostly met with favorable reviews. Review aggregate website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 86% percent of seven critics gave the film positive write-ups, a rating that it considered "Fresh". The critics in its "Cream of the Crop" subset were even more positive; the two that reviewed the film reached a 100% consensus.
Sura Wood of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
called it "an intelligent, moving film steeped in an authentic sense of time and place." Her sentiments were echoed by Joe Leydon
Joe Leydon
Joseph Patrick Michael "Joe" Leydon is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for Variety and a contributing writer for MovieMaker Magazine, he is the author of Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See and a contributing critic for Leonard Maltin's Movie...
of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, who thought Drum was "an intelligent and affecting take on political radicalization in 1950s Johannesburg." According to Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
's Jeremy Matthews, Drum was "a solid work of classical storytelling." He observed that it was "heartbreaking in its portrayal of Johannesburg at a time when its rulers had convinced many people that whites were born to command and blacks were born to obey and serve."
Critic David Nussair gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and praised Diggs as "fantastic". The supporting actors also delivered "solid" performances. He believed that the film was anything but superfluous, and it moved at a fast pace. While the screenplay was predictable, Maseko's "steady" direction "ensure[d] Drum's place among better-than-average true-life tales." The Arizona Republic disagreed with Nussair's first point, not thinking Diggs looked like a South African. It called the film "a well-meaning but static look at apartheid in the 1950s."
Shadows on the Wall's Rich Kline noted that the storyline was "compelling and eye-opening" and praised the actors as "excellent" and "committed to getting the truth out." He was impressed with the "lively and fascinating sense of local culture" that dominated the film. Kline, who gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, was mainly concerned with the film's "rather clumsy" direction and screenwriting. Maseko directed with "energy and verve," though his "struggles to capture the human drama" led to the impression that Drum was "a clunky TV movie, with awkward camera angles, wonky editing and clumsy sound recording." Filardi was guilty of a dialogue which "echoes with cliches, while contrived plotting put characters into situations that may be true, but they feel corny and movie-like." Kline also criticised the wide variety of political issues that characterised the film, though added that "maybe this helps us begin to understand what life must have been like under such an oppressive government."
One of the most critical reviews was by Francesca Dinglasan of Boxoffice Magazine. Dinglasan, who gave Drum 2.5 out of 5 stars, was unimpressed by the "unoriginal plotting techniques to convey the story of an investigative journalist attempting to expose racial injustices in a society coming to grips with the newly introduced edicts of apartheid." Although Diggs's acting was "engaging", according to her the film "depends on just a few too many big-screen cliches and predictable plot turns." The "richly designed sets and costumes" were not able to overcome the less-than-satisfactory" Drum.