Mehboob Bawa, Joseph Fiennes, Adrian Galley

GOODBYE BAFANA is the true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.

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81% liked it

4,320 ratings

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44% liked it

18 critics

Unrated, 2 hrs. 20 min.

Directed by: Bille August

Release Date: December 14, 2007

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  • February 13, 2008
    Adapted from the highly controversial book by former South African prison officer James Gregory, Goodbye Bafana tells the story of the relationship between Gregory (Fiennes) and inmate Nelson Mandela (Haysbert) over the course of 21 years. First on Robben Island and later ...( read more)in Pollsmoor and Victor Verster prisons. Mandela's official biographer claimed that Gregory's (who died in 2003) account of his friendship with Mandela was false and that the two rarely spoke, with Gregory using his position as prison letters censor to gain insight into the future president's life. Whatever the accuracy of what you're watching, Goodbye Bafana, while certainly not brilliant, is compelling from start to finish.

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    It begins in 1968 with the career-minded Gregory arriving on Robben Island with his wife Gloria (Kruger) and their two children. Having grown up on a farm, Gregory learned to speak the language Xhosa as a boy, while playing with his best friend Bafana, and because of this is put in charge of censoring the prison letters and visits of Nelson Mandela and the other imprisoned leaders of the African National Congress.

    Told that he is on the fast-track to a great career in the prison service, Gregory initially takes to his post with great zeal, dehumanising the inmates and their families and telephoning the secret service if he thinks any information is relevant. When his daughter sees a black woman being beaten in Cape Town and separated from her child because she doesn't have a pass, Gregory tells her that the police officer was just doing his job and that the Apartheid system is just "God's way". But the longer Gregory spends reading the inmates' letters and watching them maintain their dignity amidst terrible conditions, the more he begins to question the political system in his country and his role in prolonging it. And he comes to realise that not at all the prisoners on Robben Island are black and behind bars.

    Following on from the recent release of Catch a Fire, Danish director Bille August's film provides more fascinating insights into life during Apartheid and deftly blends the personal and political. He manages to maintain our interest throughout the entire 140-minute runtime, despite the frequent changes of time period. The sun drenched, dusty photography brilliantly evokes the sense of time and place, contrasting sharply with our preconceived images of Mandela's captivity.

    With Dennis Haysbert essentially playing a supporting role, Joseph Fiennes manages to portray the journey of a country through the experiences of one man. In every incarnation - be it racist, objector or friend. This is by far his best role since Shakespeare In Love - which is an absolute shame - and he delivers an impressive performance, nailing the South African accent and believably conveying Gregory's gradual conversion to Mandela's anti-Apartheid cause. Haysbert, while lacking screen time, is also superb, lending Mandela the same sort of intelligence and dignity that he displayed as president Palmer on "24". His eminent physical presence provides an intriguing contrast to his calmly measured speech - it's a performance that radiates both compassion and intelligence. In addition, there's strong support from Diane Kruger who, although playing her most unsympathetic character to date, delivers a fine performance and continues to prove herself as one of the most versatile and international actresses working today, being able to speak perfect English, German, and French.

    Leaving aside the question marks over Gregory's book, August does an excellent job at capturing the fear, paranoia and brutality of the era. From the breaking of rocks on Robben Island to the beating of women and the planting of car bombs, he doesn't flinch from depicting the everyday realities and the questions and beliefs of both sides.

    The film is at its strongest during the exchanges between Gregory and Mandela but there are too few of them and they ultimately deprive proceedings of the weighty emotional tone that would be expected. That said, Goodbye Bafana is still worthy for its anti-racism and pro-tolerance message and its glimpse - even if subtle - at one of modern history's most important figures, while also offering a moving portrait of a difficult friendship that helped to change the course of history of a nation. Recommended, especially for anyone who's minimally interested in history.
  • November 10, 2009
    This film, specially at the end, brought back a lot of memories of watching the news footage of Nelson Mandela walk out of prison a free man.

    Bit slow at times but I enjoyed it and I also learned a lot about Mr Mandela's imprisonment that I had not known before.

    In the end...( read more) this movie just reaffirmed my belief that discrimination, whatever it is, will always lose against the goodness of equality.

    BTW, this movie's alternate title is 'The Color Of Freedom' which is what Netflix has it under.
  • October 27, 2009
    THIS ONE makes me cry when i watched it!
    The story is very shocking! but all the performances were amazing, i didnt want it to finish!!
  • October 6, 2009
    A true story well told. Very touching.
  • September 15, 2009
    This is an excellent movie. Joseph Fiennes and Dennis Haysbert in particular are excellent. I expected it to be boring, but it isn't. The story is told extremely well - there are funny and sad moments, and a good sense of the development of the situation in South Africa.
  • July 20, 2009
    Daha önce Sefiller, Smilla ve Karlar gibi pek çok önemli edebiyat eserini beyazperdeye yans?tan, Fatih Pele ve Ruhlar Evi gibi filmleriyle tan?nan Bille August bu defa 20. yüzy?l tarihinin önemli isimlerinden biri olan Nelson Mandela?n?n çevresinde geçen bir hikâyeyi ele al?yor. ...( read more)Nelson Mandela?n?n 27 y?ll?k hapis döneminde cezaevi sorumlusu James Gregory?le olan ili?kisini, Mandela?n?n bar?? ça?r?s?n?, Güney Afrika?y? de?i?tirmek için nas?l mücadele etti?ini sembolize etmek üzere beyazperdeye aktard??? Özgürlü?ün Rengi adl? film, 57. Berlin Film Festivali?nde keyifle izlenebilecek filmler aras?nda gösterilirken, bar?? ödülünü ald? ve fazla ses getirmeden festivalden ayr?ld?.
    Zencilerle, beyazlar? toplumun her alan?nda birbirinden ay?ran ay?ran Aparthayd yasas?n?n* geçerli oldu?u 60?l? y?llarda ba?layan öykü, Gregory?nin kendi ya?am öyküsünü anlatt??? ve Bob Graham?la birlikte yazd??? Goodbye Bafana adl? kitab?ndan taraf?ndan sinemaya uyarland?.
    Ülkede ya?ayan zencilerin durmaks?z?n kötü muamele gördü?ü ve iki ?rk?n aras?nda devlet eli ile çizilmi? derin bir ayr?m?n bulundu?u Güney Afrika?da ya?ayan James Gregory bir hapishanede gardiyanl?k yapan s?radan bir askerdir. James ve kar?s? Gloria?n?n hayat? bir gün ans?z?n gelen bir terfi haberi ile de?i?ir. James?in ba?ka bir hapishaneye tayini ç?km??t?r ve Nelson Mandela?n?n gardiyanl???n? yapacakt?r.
    Zencileri ülkeyi tehdit eden en önemli unsur olarak gören James?in fikirleri Mandela ile vakit geçirdikçe de?i?meye ba?lar. James?in Mandela ve ailesine yak?nl?k gösterdi?ini dü?ünen üsleri durumdan rahats?z olmaya ba?lar.
    *Aparthayd (Ayr?mc?l?k): Güney Afrika Cumhuriyeti?nde 1994 y?l?na kadar yürürlükte kalan ve beyaz olmayan ?rklar aras?nda yasal olarak bir ayr?m? öngören politikaya denir. Uluslararas? terminolojide, ?rkç?l?k siyasetinin egemen oldu?u hükümetlerce yönetilen rejimlere Aparthayd rejimi denir.
  • June 28, 2009
    um excelente retrato dos 27 anos de prisão de Nelson Mandela, e uma atuação impecável de Joseph Fiennes!
  • March 21, 2009
    nice movie beside that this is the true story
  • February 20, 2009
    Wonderfully directed by Danish director Bille August this movie is definitely worth seeing. It shows Nelson Mandela's life struggle for equal rights and freedom for South African black people and the end of Apartheid. No man in the world deserves to become 100 years...( read more) old but this Madiba!!
    American actor Dennis Haysbert does a wonderful job portraying Mandela as well as Joseph Fiennes who plays the role of James Gregory, the writer of the book Goodbye Bafana which inspired this movie.
    This is one of the movies to see before you die!

Critic Reviews


Comments


  • enbento
    March 22, 2009
    Malem minggu saya nonton film ini di Metro TV, bagus sekali. Soal perjalanan karir seorang sipir penjara yang menjaga bertugas sebagai petugas sensor surat. Dia mendapat tugas khusus untuk mengintai aktivitas komunikasi Nelson Mandela.

    Kemampuan bahasanya membawanya perjalan karir dan hidupnya terus bersama Mandela. Hebatnya, dia sempat mengundurkan diri ketika keinginannya untuk pindah tidak disetujui, tetapi akhirnya otoritas menyetujuinya karena ingin agar dia terus mengawasi Mandela. Mandela-pun dipindahkan ke tenpat tugasnya yang baru.

    Pergaulannya dengan Mandela membuatnya menelusuri apa sebenarnya yang diperjuangkan Mandela, dan dia sadar bahwa apa yang diinformasikan secara resmi kepadanya tidak benar. Dia menjadi bersimpati kepada Mandela.

    Ada kalimat yang sangat saya ingat dalam film ini ketika dia berbicara dengan istrinya,"Sejarah sedang dibuat, dan aku tidak mau ditinggalkan, aku ingin menjadi bagian dari sejarah."

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