At the beginning of the year, I wanted to watch this film based on a true story and adapted from the South African James Gregory's memoir "Goodbye, Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Caretaker Condemned Me" Friends" film, which only recently got what it wanted.
People are familiar with the story of Nelson Mandela. Among the overwhelming American biographical films, this European film has a particularly fresh temperament. , giving the audience a refreshing feeling. The first protagonist in the film is not Mandela, but the prison guard James Gregory. Through what he has seen and heard, he briefly reproduces Mandela's years in prison and the strength of his character. What Gorey thought and thought deeply expressed the process of human beings from hatred and indifference to mutual understanding and then to friendship, and this process of spiritual communication to a state of reconciliation is obviously the theme of the film. South Africa's unforgettable history of apartheid at that time.
At the beginning of the film, the camera is Cape Town Harbour in June 1968, James Gregory (played by Joseph Fiennes) is taking his family to Robben Island to work. He is an ordinary white South African with a happy little family, a beautiful wife Gloria (played by Diane Kruger) and a pair of lovely children Brent and Natasha, he just wants to be a faithful man Dutiful guards, a competent husband and father.
When he was young, his only childhood was the Xhosa (nomads living in Cape Town, South Africa), from this "bafana" ("best male friend" in the Xhosa Bantu language) , he learned the Xhosa fighting style, and learned to speak the Bantu language, so he was assigned to focus on Mandela's actions. At first, he regarded Mandela as the most terrifying terrorist. After almost contacting him, he saw wisdom, kindness and charisma in Mandela, and gradually changed his mind and began to consider the future of South Africa. In one scene, when Mandela asked Gregory if he had seen the "Freedom Charter," he had an empty head and checked it out in the library while he was borrowing it back to town for the weekend to see his mother-in-law, which led to what he said to Mandela. yearning for the liberation of South Africa.
For helping Mandela pass a gift to his wife Winnie, Gregory was reprimanded by his boss. In the pub, Gregory was beaten up by extreme racists, and his family was also beaten by Robin. Rejected by the families of other prison guards on the island, James was transferred from Robin Island. However, the fate between him and Mandela did not end there. When he was transferred to guard Mandela again, the two were like old friends reunited, and like Gregory when he was a child, they played with wood. Stick fight.
After that, due to the situation, Mandela was transferred to several prisons, and Gregory followed him until February 11, 1990, when Mandela was released... However, for Gregory, Mandela's departure is a sad farewell moment, watching the TV broadcast of Mandela walking towards the welcome. His cheering crowd, Gregory said with mixed feelings: "Goodbye, Bafana." And this Bafana has a parting gift from Gregory's birthday to him. Gregory hopes that this mascot can always accompany the hope of South Africa - Mandela.
In the film, the 20-year friendship between the two is still connected by a thread, that is, the identity of both fathers. When Winnie visited Mandela, Gregory learned that Mandela's eldest son had learned to drive. He reported the news to his superiors, and soon after, news of Mandela's eldest son's death in a car accident came. His father, Gregory, fell into deep guilt and could not let it go. In 1990, when he met his superiors again, he also asked the truth about the matter, but unfortunately failed.
Mandela encouraged Gregory to let his son Brent go to university. "The new South Africa needs a knowledgeable generation." died. The death of his son gave Gregory a fatal blow. After the funeral, he hid in the backyard, holding his son's excellent report card, crying silently, blaming himself for the punishment caused by his own mistakes. His wife's consolation only healed the skin. He was more reticent when he was not very talkative. When walking with Mandela, Mandela said with empathy: "It is said that time is the cure for wounds, but the pain of losing a son will never heal. Yes, it's been there, reminding every now and then... that only someone who's lost a son can understand..."
The subtle shift in the film also happens to Gregory's wife, Gloria, who has been worried about violent black retaliation and, like many whites, believes that once blacks are in power, all whites will be "thrown in." to the sea". After the accident of his son Brent, Mandela Togrigri gave a gift to the mother who lost her son, and conveyed briefly and warmly: It is cold, and a mother should pay attention to keeping warm. Gloria finally felt the kindness of this "terrorist" who was close at hand, and couldn't help feeling - after so many years, I didn't even visit him. At the end of the film, in the crowd cheering Mandela's release from prison, the white-skinned Gloria is very conspicuous. She shouted: "Mr. Mandela!" The white-haired Mandela waved to her, although she did not know She felt the support and admiration from her.
Many viewers have experienced the talent of the award-winning Danish director Billy August in films such as "Buster's World" and "Pell the Conqueror", who was deeply influenced by the master Bergman. In particular, he has now become the vane of the Nordic film industry. His works focus on and analyze society and human nature. In many of his films, many important topics are approached in a unique way, which has a great effect. For example, in this film, the director recreated the scene of white police brutality through Natasha’s terrified eyes when she was a child: the Gregory family returned to the city for the weekend, suddenly the police came to search for the pass, and the street immediately rioted. In a group, a black woman with a baby in her arms was forcibly arrested for not having a pass, and the baby in her arms was thrown on the ground (at the moment when the baby landed, the audience could hear a clear "bang", and couldn't help but feel heartbroken) , little Natasha was stimulated by witnessing these atrocities, and she asked her father: Why don't we check if we have a pass? Gregory explained: "Because we are white, white people don't need a pass (meaning skin color is a pass). She asked again: Why? Gloria said: "It was arranged by God, you can't question God. The confusion and doubts embedded in little Natasha's eyes show that she is already questioning! The credits at the end of the credits provide some information: Natasha grew up with a bachelor's degree in psychology, Gregory died in 1993, and Gloria spent her later years caring for her grandson (and, according to the director later, during filming. During this period, Gregory's widow, Gloria, provided a lot of help).
The actors in the film have plastic surgery, the "Shakespeare" Joseph Fiennes in love, the "President" Dennis Haysbert in "24 Hours", and the "Helen" Diane Kruger who triggered the Trojan War, shaped by The time span of the characters is more than 20 years, which makes the actors have enough drama addiction. Joseph Fiennes and Dennis Haysbert have more than N opposing scenes. The director gave Fiennes a lot of close-ups of his face, and also gave Haysbert some close-ups of his back, with hatred, indifference, search, admiration, and nostalgia in his eyes. Stubbornness, perseverance, pathos, open-mindedness and warmth towards the back. For example, in the first "meeting" of the two (not strictly speaking), in the peephole of the prison door, the audience first saw Gregory's hostile and indifferent eyes, and then the camera changed, and the audience saw a wide A powerful back, and this back stood stubbornly and resolutely without looking back even when the prison guard shouted. In addition, the mother played by Diane Kruger is not only a good domestic helper, but also always helps people with haircuts to support the family. After the children have grown up, she still looks so young, which seems a little lack of realism.
The ending song used in the subtitles of the staff is very nice. It has both a sense of rhythm and rhythm, and has distinct African music characteristics. The female voice is strong and high-pitched, and the harmony is undulating and gorgeous, showing a little helplessness and sorrow for the past in the joy. , it seems to contain infinite hope during the tossing and turning, as if the land of Africa that has experienced charcoal and endless growth, listening to it, can't help but feel ups and downs, and can't help but co-compose music and hit the beat table.
The world has never lacked contradictions and conflicts, and reconciliation is the only effective way for human beings to survive.
( http://nicolew.blog.hexun.com/15066999_d.html )
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