Micitype Pretty Good

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Dorothea Marion Nepau If you are looking for a demanding film for the weekend, you should watch "Goodbye, Bafana". This film was directed by Bille August in 2007. It is based on the memories of Nelson Mandela's prison ward James Gregory and it plays in South Africa during the period of Apartheid (1968). The 140-minute-long film clearly represents the brutality and discrimination against black Africans. The Apartheid-regime meets with more and more resistance so that the Whites fear to lose their political influence. This makes them prohibit Anti-Apartheid-organizations and banish their leaders to the prison-island Robben Island, near Kapstadt. One of the jailed men is Nelson Mandela. On Robben Island Mandela gets to know the racist James Gregory, who watches him. As time passes Mandela convinces Gregory to change into a proponent of an equal South Africa. ...But to understand how his opinion changes you will have to view it yourself.This film is surely worth seeing because of its dramatic action, presented by great actors like Diane Kruger or Dennis Haysbert and Joseph Fiennes. If I was asked to rate this film on a scale from zero to ten, I would give it nine points.

Ursula Schmidt "Goodbye Bafana" is a compelling film, which is worth watching. If you want to learn more about the past of South Africa and about Nelson Mandela, you should have a look at "Goodbye Bafana". This film was directed by Bille August and shows the everyday life of Mandela and Gregory, a prison guard, on Robben Island where Mandela was in arrest.The main character James Gregory is presented as a serious and irritable man but when he meets Nelson Mandela, he becomes a warm-hearted guy. In the beginning he is a supporter of Apartheid but when working with Nelson Mandela for a long time, he changes his opinion and begins to doubt his habits. In contrast to that, Nelson Mandela is a quiet and peaceful person. Furthermore, he is clever because he has a good legal education and is not fooled by anyone. The scene in which Mandela is released from prison is the best scene because it's a peaceful and happy moment in this film. Mandela's time-consuming and hard work paid off. In the end you can say that it is a great film about the story and life of Nelson Mandela and it's based on a true story.

Tim Kidner This is a workmanlike, routine study of James Gregory, (Joseph Fiennes) the prison guard assigned to Nelson Mandela on Robben Island and his burgeoning relationship with the ANC leader, seen then as a trouble- making terrorist.The title comes from the young black boy that Gregory played with and whose bond was underpinned by an exchange of a bracelet. This long and faintly boring film never really sparkles or initiates, nor engages. Fiennes, however, is believable as the racist Afrikaner who, along with his materialistic wife gets a posting to Robben Island. She wants him promoted, he soon sees his job as a challenge and find that he mellows toward Mandela and then tries to help him. Diane Kruger, as Gregory's wife is even more racist than he is and she often tries to shape her husband's career into what she sees as traditional white superiority.Unfortunately, Dennis Haysbert, who plays Mandela, neither looks the part nor radiates the personality that he's now renowned for. True, much of the story though does involve him being under the strict conditions where communication is difficult. The film then progresses onto Mandela's transfer to Pollsmoor Prison, then to Victor Verser prison and then onto freedom. What is undoubted is that this story will be remade. With a bigger budget, better script and a more carefully chosen cast. Robben Island, seemingly located within sight of Table Top Mountain is akin to Alcatraz and we well know how Hollywood has eked screenplays out of that. As a film lover rather than a apartheid historian, but a respecter of Mandela I look forward to that and would suggest that the majority do the same.

MadameCassel Goodbye Bafana is a touching, thought-provoking movie. Extremely well acted, I loved Joseph Fiennes (James Gregory) and Dennis Haysbert (Nelson Mandela) in their roles, and Diane Kruger (Gloria Gregory) did well, too. The movie has the slow, a bit mysterious charm in it, as August's movies usually do. The color scheme was like African dust, diluted, sometimes almost raw in the scorching sun. Music supported various scenes very well, without being too prominent.The movie starts when a young prison warden James Gregory arrives to Robben Island 1968 and is addressed to keep an eye on Nelson Mandela, who is being imprisoned there for his political views. Gregory gets this mission, because he speaks xhosa, the local language, and therefore is able to read (and censor) the correspondence in and out of the prison, as well as understand what the prisoners talk to each other.James Gregory is a faithful supporter of apartheid. He believes these black men are behind bars for a good reason and he supports the government politics. After he and his family witness a raid in a busy street, where black people are randomly harassed, Gregory has to answer the questions of his children - and his explanations sounded shallow even in his own ears. Very slowly, over the years, he became to see through the apartheid and change his views.Dennis Haysbert was chosen to the role of Mandela, because of his quiet, distinctive charm and mental power. He did a great job. Joseph Fiennes was chosen because Bille August wanted an actor, who was tough and yet sensitive, someone who would be able to portray the change in the character in a period of almost thirty years. It was a very challenging role but Joe did a marvelous job.There has been a lot of talk about his South African accent, and mostly it has been praised. I followed it very closely, and I think Joe did fine in that area, too. In some scenes the British accent is more or less audible, but most of the time he does a wonderful job.Diane Kruger did a good job as James's wife, a mother of two, who was also raising their kids to support the apartheid. She opposed her husband being a warden for Nelson Mandela, because she could see that the close contact with the inmate made cracks to James's shield and his racistic opinions were vanishing rapidly. She tried to hold onto the apartheid views for much longer than her husband.The movie ends to a year 1990, when Nelson Mandela is released from prison after being incarcerated for 27 years. The era of the new South Africa was to begin.