Goodbye Bafana

Plot synopsis:
James Gregory, a male Caucasian, lives in a South African farm, and is friendly with a black native, Bafana. Both children communicate in the local language, and James even poses in a photograph with his arm around Bafana. Both children bid each other goodbye when James re-locates to live in the city.Years later, James, who now works for the Government, is married to conservative Gloria, who has been taught, and in turn, teaches her children, Brett, Chris, and Natasha, that the suffering of the native blacks is 'God's Will', and is not to be questioned.James' friends view the photograph of Bafana and himself and make fun of him, leading James to hate blacks.The South African Secret Service finds out about James' knowledge of the native language, and they recruit him as a Prison Censorship Officer, and he is instructed to monitor and censor all information and meetings of all inmates, especially Nelson Mandela, the leader of the African National Congress, who has been imprisoned since 1963 for allegedly inciting riots against the government.James converses with Nelson and even finds out his native name is Madiba. When Winnie is permitted to visit Nelson, James monitors the conversation along with another guard, and interrupts them when he finds out that they are talking about the African National Congress.James also finds out that Nelson's son has acquired a driver's license, and he reports this to his supervisor. Shortly thereafter, he is told to hand over a newspaper report that Nelson's son has been killed in an automobile accident.While conversing with another guard, James is told that the 'Freedom Charter' of the African National Congress is the 'extermination of whites'. James sets forth to examine this document, and finds out that it is banned and special authorization is required to even view this document. He does manage to obtain a copy and keeps it on his person.His children experience the trauma of watching police brutality on civilians, including women, children, and infants.
While James continues his conversation with Nelson, both men come close to almost being friends. It is then Nelson asks James to give Winnie a piece of chocolate as a Christmas present during her visit to see him. James secretly hands this over - setting into motion a series of events that will isolate him from his very own peers, and force him to consider resigning from his current position.Not able to witness Gloria's distraught and isolation, he resigns, but his resignation is not accepted. He is then asked to accompany Nelson to another prison, which he does.Amongst mounting international pressure to free Nelson, as well as imposition of crippling economic sanctions, the South African government representative meets with Nelson and agrees to free him if he re-locates, but Nelson refuses.Amongst mounting riots from the natives, James' family starts to receive threatening phone calls, and their movements are closely watched by the secret service, a visibly shaken James receives news that Brett has been killed in an automobile accident.He must now attempt to find out if this action was carried by his superiors, the members of the African National Congress, or was it just plain natural justice for betraying Nelson's son.

Tags: violence

Review:
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Joseph Fiennes has always looked a bit like a spider monkey in my view, but in this movie he was better than in any role I'd seen him in before, doing what I thought was a competent job with the South African accent as well.
In a movie based upon a true story, Fiennes plays James Gregory, a racist South African guard whose certainties are nonetheless shaken to the core over the span of twenty years  the time he spends as Nelson Mandela's prison warden.
The movie's merit lies largely in showing us the daily application of a major historic abomination  Apartheid  through the lives of "little people", those ordinary men and women of South Africa thanks to whom it was perpetuated.
While many books and films about South Africa's Apartheid have attempted to convey the tension and the eventual dissolution of that sociopolitical scheme, few histories bring us as close to the core of the schism as does Bille August's excellent film THE COLOR OF FREEDOM.
Based on the book GOODBYE BAFANA by James Gregory (with Bob Graham) the story details the relationship between Nelson Mandela and prison warden James Gregory during Mandela's long imprisonment on Robben Island off the coast of South Africa, and the gradual friendship that occurred between these disparate men.
Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment on the desolate Robben Island for his non-violent attempts to end racism in South Africa, attempts that eventually resulted in work stoppages and resistance movements that moved the articulate, well-educated lawyer Mandela into the realm of activism.
While on Robben Island he was guarded by one James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes), a pro-apartheid, cruel prison employee who was assigned to Mandela as a spy and censor because of Gregory's knowledge of the local language Xhosa (learned from his childhood when his best friend was a black boy named Bafana).
Gregory lives on the island with this wife (Diane Kruger) and children and his commitment to his family provides a stark contrast to his hatred of his black 'Kaffir' prisoners: his involvement with the pro-apartheid status is strengthened by his direct communication with Intelligence in the cities of South Africa where his censored information from the prisoners leads to definitive capture and 'disposal' of the blacks.
On a trip ashore Gregory and his wife and children witness first hand the beatings and cruelties of the whites against the blacks and Gregory returns to his duties on Robben Island with a gradually changing point of view for the model prisoner Mandela.
They begin communicating in Xhosa and Gregory allows Mandela's wife Winnie (Faith Ndukwana) to spend more committed time with her husband on her restricted visits to Robben island.
Gregory's life and philosophy have been changed by Mandela's powerful personality and spirit and his eventual release from prison into the new, freed South Africa has been aided in a small but meaningful way by Gregory - a reflection of Gregory's childhood bond with his friend Bafana.
I'd just like to make the point that Raj Doctor of Amsterdam's comment above is more than a little misleading, as well as giving a rather simplified version of the long and complex history of what became the Republic of South Africa.He refers to 'the ruling British', a group apparently wholly responsible for the racism and violence which have beset the country.
The particular nature of the problems which South Africa has faced are based primarily on the relatively significant size of its white population and their attendant rule (dominated as it has been by Afrikaners) not on 'British rule'.I enjoyed the film, by the way.
A real life movie based is supposed to be precise without getting too much into detail - otherwise it turns boring - and so is "Goodbye Bafana", documenting 27 years in the life of this prison guard.
The picture was well based on real events and actual characters , regarding the true story of a white South African racist , a prison warden (Joseph Fiennes) whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner named Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) he guarded for twenty years .
W. De Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory and became South Africa's first black president .This is an enjoyable as well as thought-provoking story about a warden and his relationship with Mandela , an emotive flick revolving around imprisonment Nelson until his freedom and inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa .
The flick describes perfectly a great man who could have lived in bitterness and anger all his existence , seeking vengeance when he ultimately achieved power , but who instead chose to devote himself to democracy and peaceful reconciliation between blacks and whites in South Africa .
The main actors , Joseph Fiennes , Dennis Haysbert and Diane Kruger give awesome interpretations and the story was professionally directed by Billie August .
Other films based on this historical figure are the followings : ¨Mandela¨ (1987) by Philip Saville with Danny Glover , Alfre Woodward , Warren Clarke , Julian Glover ; ¨Mandela and De Clerk¨ (1997) by Joseph Sargent with Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine ; ¨Winnie¨ by Darrel Root with Jennifer Hudson , Terrence Howard , Elias Koteas ; ¨Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom¨ (2013) by Justin Chadwick with Idris Elba and Naomi Harris .The film was correctly based on historical facts , these are the followings : Nelson Mandela who was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist .
As he spend long time in prison amidst tight economic sanctions by the international community, and growing unrest by the natives who continue their fight for equality, and freedom for Nelson Mandela .
I like Dennis Haysbert; he's a good actor, but he was miscast in the part of Nelson Mandela.
There's a point in the film when Joseph Feinnes, in character, does a brief imitation of Mandela making a public statement; he does a very convincing job of it, and I thought:"This white guy would have made a better Nelson Mandela than we have here".
Why not place some South African character actor with a long, distinguished portfolio in the Mandela role?
He is perhaps the only person in the world I can think of to whom I would apply the adjective "great." He was a man who could have lived in bitterness and anger all his life, seeking revenge when he finally achieved power, but who instead chose to devote himself to democracy and peaceful reconciliation between blacks and whites in South Africa.
The story is actually told from the perspective of James Gregory (played convincingly by Joseph Fiennes) - who as a prison guard slowly advancing up the ranks - met Mandela (played by Dennis Haysbert) in 1968 and gradually developed a relationship of trust and respect with him.There's enough background information to give the viewer a taste of what South African life was like under apartheid, but the story isn't really about that.
At the start of the movie, Gregory came across as basically just another white South African, committed to apartheid and devoted to maintaining the white hold on "their" country.
Mandela's graciousness as well as his fierce devotion to his cause impacts Gregory, who suddenly begins to see Mandela not as a black terrorist out to kill whites but as a human being seeking basic dignity and equality.Fiennes performance was very strong.
Nelson Mandela  this movie is about him, and that is the only factor that made to select this movie.But the story is not about Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) but about his prison guard James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes) who first serves as a prison guard (in 1968) for Mandela because he knows the African language Xhosa that Mandela and his comrades speak.
Dennis Haysbert portrays the role of his life time with gut, gutsy and tremendous respect and dignity  in being Nelson Mandela  an honor for an actor.The movie as rightly said by some critics is a history lesson of sorts.
It makes you think about how we as human beings treat each other, and about what really matters in life.We've all heard about the apartheid that took place in South Africa a few decades ago and how Nelson Mandela fought for freedom for the black people.
James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes) with language skills is recruited as the censor officer to watch over prisoner Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert).
The story of the white man/guard might be spiked a bit and his wife does not have much to do (Diane Kruger) besides the obvious (caring for him, the safety of their family and being a faithful wife, sticking with her husband through it all).One thing is sure, you do need a really charismatic and good actor if you want to portray a man like Mandela.
Seems quite sad that the true-to-life character of Nelson Mandela would be reduced to a supporting character in a film about him; his stay on the Robben Island prison and his consequent release in the 1990s.
Yes, it resembles a TV movie of the week and yes, at about the half way mark you can envisage the film's final few moments consisting of a little white text caption coming into focus on the black background detailing what the lead character's current state is; but above all this is a film wanting to tackle a white individual's guilt rather than a black individual's plight and with this established pretty early on in the film, I did not have a problem with the direction the film took.Goodbye Bafana revolves around a pro-white; pro-Apartheid guard with the South African prison service named James Gregory, played by Joseph Fiennes, who moves to Robben island with his family of wife Gloria (Kruger); young son Brent and daughter Natasha in the 1960s.
One of these is the aforementioned Nelson Mandela, played here by Dennis Haysbert, who does a reasonable job shuffling from scene to scene and keeping a stern and expressionless face in playing the man; although the level of the performance cannot be understated when we recall what it is Haysbert is exactly required to do: essentially playing a dispirited prisoner throughout and given little room to play the equality driven saviour of a nation and its beliefs.Interestingly, the moment that encapsulates the very sentiment that the film is more interested in Gregory's tale than Mandela and his struggle and the manner in which he went about doing what he did actually occurs very late on, but it's telling all the same; in a sequence that sees Mandela and his assistants sit around a large table about to indulge in the sorts of discussions that saw them do what they did but sees James leave the room with the film following him, just as those at the table appear to get started, so as to cover his moving house and his family problems.
As the years roll on and everyone grows older, the Gregory's shift around and Mandela himself is kept on the sidelines as he changes prisons looking at the main strand of the film from a distanced perspective.
The film tries to provide some dramatic tension to proceedings, the arrival of a new and more brutal Robben Island chief of staff later on in life supposed to instill a sense of what might happen if Gregory were to be caught by this new chief as his attitudes begin to change.
This is a workmanlike, routine study of James Gregory, (Joseph Fiennes) the prison guard assigned to Nelson Mandela on Robben Island and his burgeoning relationship with the ANC leader, seen then as a trouble- making terrorist.The title comes from the young black boy that Gregory played with and whose bond was underpinned by an exchange of a bracelet.
Diane Kruger, as Gregory's wife is even more racist than he is and she often tries to shape her husband's career into what she sees as traditional white superiority.Unfortunately, Dennis Haysbert, who plays Mandela, neither looks the part nor radiates the personality that he's now renowned for.
James Gregory is a white South African prison guard.
As time goes on, however, his views start to change, partly as a result of the violence he sees directed by the South African police and security forces against the black population, partly because he has come to admire Mandela and the other Black political leaders.
There doubtless were white South Africans, including members of the prison service, who continued to hold unreconstructed white supremacist views up until the end of apartheid (and in some cases even beyond), but it is unlikely that a feature film would ever be made these days chronicling the life and opinions of such individuals, so we know from the outset that Gregory's views will undergo a complete change in the course of the film.
James Gregory, a South African man, chronicled his experiences as a soldier in a book about those the dark days of Apartheid, and its demise, when Nelson Mandela was freed after twenty seven years in prison.
Bille August, the Danish film director decided to bring the story to the screen adapting the events that lead to the democratic government now in place.As a young boy, James Gregory's best friend was a black lad who knew about the difference between the races at a moment when the ruling white minority ruled the country in ruthless fashion.
James went on to become a soldier who is sent to Robben Island where a lot of political prisoners, among them, Nelson Mandela was being held.
James Gregory gave away many secrets that resulted in the assassination of a lot of the blacks that were considered communist terrorists, something that he lived to regret throughout his life.The film second half tells the story how two different men from such disparate backgrounds begin to respect one another as they bond because both see the real problem that have helped to create the racial injustice.Joseph Fiennes is seen as James Gregory.
If you are looking for a film which is based on true facts about Mandela's time in prison and about apartheid in South Africa, then this is the right film for you.
The film is about the time Mandela spent in prison and the prison officer James Gregory.
During the film James Gregory changes his attitude towards Nelson Mandela and the black people.
The main characters are played by Dennis Haysbert (Nelson Mandela), Joseph Fiennes (James Gregory) and Diane Kruger (Gloria Gregory).
So it is easier for the viewer to identify with them.In our opinion the film is a good film to inform the viewers about apartheid and the events around Nelson Mandela.
It is based on the memories of Nelson Mandela's prison ward James Gregory and it plays in South Africa during the period of Apartheid (1968).
On Robben Island Mandela gets to know the racist James Gregory, who watches him.
As time passes Mandela convinces Gregory to change into a proponent of an equal South Africa.
...But to understand how his opinion changes you will have to view it yourself.This film is surely worth seeing because of its dramatic action, presented by great actors like Diane Kruger or Dennis Haysbert and Joseph Fiennes.
In the Color of Freedom we have Dennis Haysbert and Nelson Mandela in just the way I think of him, and Joseph Fiennes who was his guard for many years.
I don't know if there is a movie which tells the story of Nelson Mandela's like before he was imprisoned, but there needs to be..
I had great expectations for this movie as Nelson Mandela is by far the most important political figure of our age(second perhaps only to Ghandi), and as such he deserves every bit of homage that can be sent his way."Goodbye Bafana" should have been the paramount praise for this extraordinary man, yet it never reaches the potential that lurks just beneath the surface.One reason for this is the fact that the time frame that has to be covered is too big for the time set aside telling it.
If you want to learn more about the past of South Africa and about Nelson Mandela, you should have a look at "Goodbye Bafana".
This film was directed by Bille August and shows the everyday life of Mandela and Gregory, a prison guard, on Robben Island where Mandela was in arrest.The main character James Gregory is presented as a serious and irritable man but when he meets Nelson Mandela, he becomes a warm-hearted guy.
In the beginning he is a supporter of Apartheid but when working with Nelson Mandela for a long time, he changes his opinion and begins to doubt his habits.
In the end you can say that it is a great film about the story and life of Nelson Mandela and it's based on a true story..