The Color of Freedom

Amazon.com Inspired by James Gregory's memoir, Goodbye Bafana, The Color of Freedom offers an inside look at the 27-year incarceration of future South African President Nelson Mandela (24's Dennis Haysbert). Apartheid-friendly guard Gregory (Shakespeare in Love's Joseph Fiennes), social-climbing spouse Gloria (National Treasure's Diane Kruger), and their two children move to Robben Island, home of the infamous political prison, in 1968. Because he speaks Xhosa, Gregory’s superior charges the warder with censoring correspondence and supervising visits between the African National Congress (ANC) leader and his wife, Winnie (Faith Ndukwana). As it transpires, the guard had a black childhood friend named Bafana, and his relationship with Mandela rekindles Gregory’s long-lost belief in racial equality. Directed by Denmark's Bille August (The Best Intentions), The Color of Freedom captures the natural beauty of South Africa and the unnatural fashions of yesteryear (including Kruger's '60s-era foundation garments). The actors also give it their all, particularly Fiennes, who nails the Afrikaner dialect, but predictability and underdeveloped personalities dilute the drama (it's also worth noting that Mandela hasn't corroborated the facts in Gregory's book, contributing to its controversial reputation). The six-foot-four Haysbert's dissimilarity to the Nobel Peace Prize winner also proves distracting. Like Blood Diamond and other recent motion pictures concerning African history, August's effort means well, but fails to register as more than a made-for-TV movie with superior production values. --Kathleen C. Fennessy Product Description Joseph Fiennes and Dennis Haysbert star in the incredible true story of the deep bond that develops between political prisoner Nelson Mandela and James Gregory, the racist white South African who was Mandela's prison guard for more than 20 years. Based on Gregory's controversial memoir, Goodbye Bafana, The Color Of Freedom powerfully chronicles the life-changing journey both men experience during Mandela's imprisonment - as one man confronts the racism he has always known, the other's struggle for freedom makes him a worldwide symbol of South Africa's heroic fight for democracy.
ASIN: B0014Z4OL6
VSKU: DBV.B0014Z4OL6.G
Condition: Good
Binding: DVD
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