Film Review of Goodbye Bafana

1. In general, what did you like and dislike about the film?

What I liked about the movie is the fact that when you watch it you get to know a different point of view of the Apartheid and Mandela's imprisonment. It is also kind of nice to see that there was white people that criticized the unfair system that used to determinate the relationship between two people just for the color of their skin. I also liked that it showed clearly the white behavior and how the Apartheid laws were implemented .

I could not get to enjoy fully the movie, because it was shadowed by A Long Walk for Freedom. That movie was amazing, even though Mandela was portrayed in a different light.

What I truly disliked of the movie is the role played by Winnie Mandela. She was such an amazing woman and in this film she was so reduced to nothing but a wife waiting for his husband.

2. Who was the character you liked the most and the character you liked the least in the film? Why?

I did not like any of the characters specifically, but if I had to force myself to pick one, I would say that my favorite were Gregory's kids. I liked the fact that they were really innocent and so they did not understand why black people had to be restricted, secluded and outraged. If they had any prejudice or hate against them, it was what was taught by their own parents. They also were able to understand and judge the unfairness of the system they lived in.

I did not like the character of Gloria, Gregory's wife, because she just acted according to the prejudice she was raised in, so at the beginning she never asked herself if maybe she and the whole white ideology was unfair and cruel. I liked the fact that she realized that she lived in such a cruel culture and tried to change.

Also at the start, I found Gregory some kind of an hypocrite, because he wanted to befriend someone who's ideology he did not approve and he acted badly towards the other political prisoners. What bothered me is that he never tried to know what happened to or tried to find Bafana, he just adapted himself to the laws given to him, forgetting completely his childhood friend. Even though I still respect him, because he realized he lived in an unfair country and tried to help Mandela.


3. How do the versions of James Gregory, Nelson Mandela, and Winnie Mandela compare between  Goodbye Bafana and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom?

James Gregory in GB and LWTF are quite different, in the first one you are supposed to understand the role he had in Mandela's years of imprisonment, but I also could not empathize with him What I found even worse was that he did nothing for the other prisoners besides Mandela. Was it just a special behavior towards the South African leader because he was famous?  For me, even if it was shorter, his role in LWTF is more realistic, because he did almost nothing to help the prisoners and kept with the cold behavior almost the entire time.

Nelson Mandela in GB was represented as a stronger leader in a sense that he did not trust Gregory until he proved him. He was also really complied towards his role un the ANC. 

I think one can not compare between Winnie in the two films. In GB she was barely portrayed and she seemed way weaker than the real one and the one in LWTF. I think that movie in the former was so strong and independent, she fought for her ideals, her family and his husband.