Goodbye Bafana (2007)

Director:

Bille August

Writers:

Bob Graham (book)
James Gregory (book)

Release Date:

11 abril 2007 (Belgium)

Genre:

Biografía | Drama | History

Frase comercial:

Based on the memoirs of Nelson Mandela's prison guard

Plot:

GOODBYE BAFANA is the true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela. |

Plot Keywords:

Racism | Nelson Mandela | Prison Guard | Prison Cell | African National Congress

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

goodbye discrimination

Cast

Joseph Fiennes	...	James Gregory
Dennis Haysbert	...	Nelson Mandela
Diane Kruger	...	Gloria Gregory
Shiloh Henderson	...	Brett Gregory
Patrick Lyster	...	Maj Pieter Jordaan
Faith Ndukwana	...	Winnie Mandela
listado alfabético del resto del reparto:
Mehboob Bawa	...	Ahmed Kathrada
Garth Breytenbach	...	Jack Steyn
Adrian Galley	...	Brigadier Kemp
Warrick Grier	...	Vann Niekerk
Tyrone Keogh	...	Brent Gregory
Leslie Mongezi	...	Walter Sisulu
Sizwe Msutu	...	Cyril Ramaphosa
Terry Pheto	...	Zindzi Mandela
Matthew Dylan Roberts	...	National security agent (as Matthew Roberts)
Giulia Troiano	...	Voice Italian Version
Eduan van Jaarsveldt	...	Sgt Chris Brits

También conocida como:

Colore della liberta', Il (Italy)
Detenuto 46664 (Italy)
Goodbye Bafana (Germany)
The Color of Freedom (USA) (DVD title)
Adiós Bafana (Argentina) (festival title) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for language including some sexual references.

Duración:

140 min | France:118 min

País:

Germany | France | Belgium | South Africa | Italy | UK | Luxembourg

Idioma:

English | Xhosa

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Clasificación:

Netherlands:12 | Ireland:15A | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 (TV rating) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:R | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Company:

Banana Films

Soundtrack:

MANKOBA

goodbye discrimination

Goodbye Bafana is a touching, thought-provoking movie. Extremely well acted, I loved Joseph Fiennes (James Gregory) and Dennis Haysbert (Nelson Mandela) in their roles, and Diane Kruger (Gloria Gregory) did well, too. The movie has the slow, a bit mysterious charm in it, as August's movies usually do. The color scheme was like African dust, diluted, sometimes almost raw in the scorching sun. Music supported various scenes very well, without being too prominent.

The movie starts when a young prison warden James Gregory arrives to Robben Island 1968 and is addressed to keep an eye on Nelson Mandela, who is being imprisoned there for his political views. Gregory gets this mission, because he speaks xhosa, the local language, and therefore is able to read (and censor) the correspondence in and out of the prison, as well as understand what the prisoners talk to each other.

James Gregory is a faithful supporter of apartheid. He believes these black men are behind bars for a good reason and he supports the government politics. After he and his family witness a raid in a busy street, where black people are randomly harassed, Gregory has to answer the questions of his children - and his explanations sounded shallow even in his own ears. Very slowly, over the years, he became to see through the apartheid and change his views.

Dennis Haysbert was chosen to the role of Mandela, because of his quiet, distinctive charm and mental power. He did a great job. Joseph Fiennes was chosen because Bille August wanted an actor, who was tough and yet sensitive, someone who would be able to portray the change in the character in a period of almost thirty years. It was a very challenging role but Joe did a marvelous job.

There has been a lot of talk about his South African accent, and mostly it has been praised. I followed it very closely, and I think Joe did fine in that area, too. In some scenes the British accent is more or less audible, but most of the time he does a wonderful job.

Diane Kruger did a good job as James's wife, a mother of two, who was also raising their kids to support the apartheid. She opposed her husband being a warden for Nelson Mandela, because she could see that the close contact with the inmate made cracks to James's shield and his racistic opinions were vanishing rapidly. She tried to hold onto the apartheid views for much longer than her husband.

The movie ends to a year 1990, when Nelson Mandela is released from prison after being incarcerated for 27 years. The era of the new South Africa was to begin.