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Reviews
Gandhi (1982)
Critical Historical Viewing of Ghandi
Ghandi is useful for someone learning about the history of apartheid. It shows the experiences of an Indian (or Coloured) person in South Africa, which is beneficial because most representations focus on Black South Africans being victims of Apartheid. The Apartheid policies and racism towards Coloured people are shown, especially in Gahandi being thrown off the train and abused by white people. In the movie the character of Ghandi is central, and he is a very likable character. By focusing on him the viewer might be forced made to feel emotional about Apartheid policies. Watching this movie became very attached to the character of Ghandi and very angry about the racism of apartheid. Some people might suggest that this is a bad thing because it makes people emotional and they focus less on the facts of the history. But it is also quite good because the facts of the history are emotional. Focussing on a likable character like this is might help people to better understand how terrible it was in South Africa during apartheid. When viewing this movie we need to be critical. I explained that the audience easily becomes emotionally involved. This can be helpful for someone learning about apartheid because it makes them more interested and enthusiastic. But it can also cause problems because it stops the viewer from being objective about the truth. When we watch movies like this we need to be aware that this is happening, and not totally get sucked in by the emotion. In addition, this movie would have been more useful if it had had more information on South Africa. Unfortunately Ghandi leaves to go to India quite early in the movie, so we never really get to see that much. It would be better if the audience were shown more examples of apartheid segregation policies and the attitudes of more of the white people. Overall, this was an emotional movie but one which let you understand how terrible apartheid was for many people. - Al, Jason and Eliot
The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
Critical Historical Viewing of The Wilby Conspiracy
The Wilby Conspiracy is an old movie, and so it is less dramatic and has less action than a modern action movie. The Wilby Conspiracy was pretty entertaining. There were good chasing scenes and and some of it was very funny. The actors were really good. The movie was useful for learning about history because it showed an activist and how they were victimised by the racist police. It also shows some white south africans who are normally not in apartheid movies (where the black characters are the heroes). Many whites in south Africa were against the system of apartheid, especially whites with an English background. It is good that this movie shows this, with a British Engineer helping the black criminal. As viewers we must be critical of the way the history of Apartheid was presented. Mainly, this movie didn't have heaps of information about Apartheid - it never really explains why the activist was in gaol and what was his motivation. That would have made it more believable. It is possible that the film-maker wanted the audience to not know so that he was just another black activist being victimised by the government. It would have been a more historically useful movie if the characters had talked about what their political beliefs were and why. The characters of the police were also a bit too simple - they were more like 'badies' than actual people. To be more useful for someone learning about history it could have been fairer to the whites who were police, who were not evil badies, just ignorant people who were part of the system everyone else was. This was an enjoyable film, which had some good action and suspense parts. But for a way to learn about the history of apartheid it is not ideal, there are some large gaps in what it tells you - and it is more concerned with excitement and action than politics and history. -Brad, Evren, Henry, Miles (9H1).
Sarafina! (1992)
Critical Historical Viewing of Sarafina
Sarafina was a fun movie, and some of the songs were really great. Sarafina was very entertaining. I don't normally like music things like this, but the singing was not lame like it looked like on the box. The movie was useful for learning about history because it was an interesting perspective of the Soweto rioting of 1976. It showed you things from the perspective of the students in the rioting and showed you that they were real characters. Because you got to see them as real characters this makes you like them more as an audience, and makes you more sympathetic to them as totally the victims of the white government, who you can not sympathise with. The singing of the students is correct because we know from accounts that the students in the riot were singing and dancing before it became violent. The clothing of the students in Sarafina is very similar to the clothing shown in photos from Soweto. They made the movie actually in Soweto, which is why it looks very accurate in many parts. All these things make the film more accurate for someone using it to learn about aparthied. As viewers we must be critical of the way the history of Apartheid was presented. As I said before, you become sympathetic to the students - this makes it potentially less reliable and objective. Also, it changes some of the details from other accounts. In Sarafina it turns to chaos when the policeman comes into their classroom and shoots the students. The police and army were very aggressive at Soweto, but this is probably an exaggerated event. The police and army did shoot students, but there is not evidence of them going into schools and executing people like this. The fighting was more in the streets and had looting and crime. This is done in the movie probably to make you feel more sorry for the school students. The movie would have been more useful if it had some different information about aparthied. The teacher was arrested for being against the government, and the mum goes to work in a white persons house. But there is not any information about the government and why they were doing it or any details about the racist policies and laws. -By George S, Chris and Finlay