Goodbye Bafana film review

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GOODBYE BAFANA

At his trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela openly declared that the fight for equality in his native South Africa was an ideal for which he was prepared to die. Spared the death sentence, he was instead sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island, where his struggle gradually gained momentum until his eventual release in 1990.

Goodbye Bafana tells some of the story of his time in jail, notably his relationship with prison guard James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes) on whose memoirs the film is based. Having been brought up in the African plains, Gregory had a working knowledge of the indigenous language of Xhosa and was thus seen as a natural to mind and spy on the state's most prolific prisoner.

Saddled with a social climbing wife (Diane Kruger) who sees her husband's relationship with Mandela as a chance to improve their social standing, Gregory is at first on message when it comes to looking after Mandela. He censors his letters, voiding them of any real meaning, curtails meetings with Winnie, and turns a blind eye to the harsher elements of the prison regime. But over time, the two opposites develop a friendship and Gregory begins to see the cause for which Mandela is fighting in a different light.

Bille August's film comes, however, with several problems. The script is often heavy-handed and little real credibility is afforded to the manner in which Gregory changes from prison guard to sympathetic confidant. August blurs far too many edges to make it either really compelling or truly believable. In fairness, part of the problem may lie - as has been widely noted - with the fact that much of Gregory's memoirs have been discredited as untrue.

Joseph Fiennes, who seems to have been absent from the big screen for far too long, does a good job in conveying the dilemmma faced by his character, and Kruger is also impressive as his needy wife. Dennis Haysbert however in the title role fails to nail Mandela's world famous accent and this is a major distraction. There may have been worthy intentions behind this project, but the end result is disappointing.

Paul Hurley