Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

namashi_1 Based upon André Brink's novel of the same name, 'A Dry White Season' is a Decent Attempt. The Disturbing yet Courageous comes alive on celluloid with sincerity & honesty. Brando, who only has 10-minutes of Screen-Time, is Terrific & Over-Powers every other actor abroad. 'A Dry White Season' Synopsis: Ben du Toit, A schoolteacher, who always has considered himself a man of caring and justice, at least on the individual level. When his gardener's son is brutally beaten up by the police at a demonstration by black school children, he gradually begins to realize his own society is built on a pillar of injustice and exploitation.'A Dry White Season' is disturbing, honest & courageous. The Adapted Screenplay by Colin Welland & Euzhan Palcy, is sincere. Euzhan Palcy's Direction, on the other-hand, is sensitive. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are passable. Performance-Wise: As Mentioned, Brando is Terrific in a cameo. He over-powers everyone! Donald Sutherland delivers a very genuine performance. Janet Suzman is first-rate. Susan Sarandon leaves a mark. Jürgen Prochnow is excellent. Others lend able support.On the whole, 'A Dry White Season' is a decent watch.

MartinHafer Donald Sutherland plays a well-respected white man living in apartheid-era South Africa. He is a famous ex-rugby player--with a happy life. But, when one of his servants comes to him to complain about police violence towards his son, slowly Sutherland is forced to confront the evil within his society. You see, this caning is only the beginning--soon far, far worse happens to these people and Sutherland refuses to look away and pretend it isn't happening. Eventually, Sutherland is so enraged by the police brutalities that he seeks legal advice--he wants justice and won't accept that there is different justice for blacks and whites. When the case comes to court, it soon becomes VERY apparent that it is futile. Despite overwhelming evidence showing how brutally the police murdered one of their detainees, it was ruled a suicide. With seemingly nothing he can do, what will he do next--especially when his own family just want him to drop it? It's funny, but there was a LOT of hubbub about Marlon Brando in the film. While he totally dominated the portion he was in, it was a relatively small role. I really had to feel sorry for Sutherland, as he was very good in the film but got almost no notice since Brando is an iconic figure and so much attention went towards him.As far as the film goes, it's excellent in every way--well acted, directed and written. It's a very compelling and sad film--and fortunately it's also about what is finally past. Well worth seeing.By the way, this is not a major complaint, but twice in the film if you look closely you can see supposedly dead people breathing. The first is a little girl who is shot and perhaps she really could have continued breathing for a few seconds. But, the guy inside the coffin is clearly supposed to be 100% dead but you can see his chest moving. These goofs should have been caught but don't really detract from the film.I am going to visit South Africa in a few weeks. As an American I naturally know very little about the place, but to get myself in the mood, I am watching as many films about the country as I can. Like most of these films, "A Dry White Season" is about South Africa during the apartheid era. I wish I knew of some other films (other than "Invictus") which talked more about South Africa as it is today.

rAjOo This movie as well as Goodbye Bafana are an eye-opener as to how right-winged regimes, including Canada, England, Australia, South Africa, and the United States of America, initiate their own kind to spy and destabilize the weak and the oppressed, using the power of the law, the judiciary, and prisons to silence and even deport/kill who dare to speak out against them.Witness the treatment of the people of the First Nations (Aboriginal Indians) in Canada itself. It is no longer a secret that Adolf Hitler had sent a team to witness the atrocities carried out on them, so that they then, in turn, ill-treat Jews, bringing into question as to whether or not it was just the Nazis, as a whole, who were responsible for the Holocaust.While ostensibly Canada claims to be a leader in 'human rights', the so-called 'Human Rights Commissions', headed by right-winged political appointees and queen's counsels, at both state and federal-level, have continued to 'not deal with' complaints with open impunity. Their main agenda is to promote and create a false scenario that there is no racism in Canada giving it (racial discrimination),bigotry and intolerance every opportunity to flourish without any checks.While naive and often ignorant politicians are quick to point out human rights' abuses in developing countries, they turn a nelson's eye on violations carried out by the Government (all 3 levels, federal, state and local municipalities), local police services, unions, landlords, & c.. Some of these municipalities, and police services continue as exclusive clubs of the mainstream even in modern day Canada.Many are fooled by the 'greener' pastures of North America, and it is only after they live here for sometime that most visible minorities come to know that they are ranked as second-class citizens, just as their Aboriginal brothers and sisters, with just one right - the right to complain - and then be ignored, spoken to condescendingly, subjected to delays, technicalities, bureaucratic corruption and inefficiency, and never be heard.Lawyers (some of who end up as Judges) often refuse to represent visible minorities/aboriginals, very subtly and with a variety of frivolous reasons, in 'human rights' matters, compounding the problem even more, and thereby forcing many to give up their fight for their rights, while others end up in despair with emotional scars that never heal.Many are not even aware that Canada is not even a democracy, but a Constitutional Monarchy.Many have also realized that Apartheid-like conditions continue to persist in modern day Canada.Hate groups, which got a boost after the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as following the election of Barrack Obama, now total to around 1000 in the United States alone.Clearly law and justice are two distant cousins who have not been on speaking terms, and both continue to be misapplied when it comes to a person's racial origin.As for the Office of the Ombudsman, the less said the better. There is virtually no accountability or even a monitoring authority on this so-called impartial office, created initially as a watch-dog for the people, but has now been reduced to a fierce government guard dog. It is no wonder that it is commonly referred to as the office of 'all show and no go'.As for 'Civil Liberty' organizations, mostly dependent on government grants and funding, are reduced to mere paper tigers, with little or no active involvement to improve laws that benefit vulnerable Canadians, leaving politicians, and government (all 3 levels) officials to carry on breaking a variety of laws with open impunity. A number of these 'civil rights' organizations are chaired by right-winged queen's counsels, and have a vested interest in maintaining a status quo at the expense of vulnerable Canadians.Kindness and compassion are a thing of the past. Period.It is thus rightly said "The true measure of society is how they treat their most vulnerable".

PhilipChandler This movie explores apartheid and the monstrous injustices perpetrated against non-white South Africans by that system from the perspective of Ben du Toit (Donald Sutherland), a well-respected history teacher of Afrikaans heritage (white South Africans are primarily Afrikaans (of Dutch descent) or of British descent). Ben du Toit is portrayed as a decent, law-abiding man who investigates the death of his gardener, Gordon Ngubene (Winston Ntshona). Ngubene dies in police custody while investigating the circumstances that led to his son first being whipped across the buttocks and then being killed by the police. At first, du Toit merely approaches the police in good faith, politely expressing concern to Colonel Viljoen (Gerard Thoolen) and Captain Stolz (Jurgen Prochnow) together with the observation that human errors do occur, even at South African police headquarters.With the aid of Stanley Makhaya (Zakes Mokae), du Toit gathers evidence revealing, unambiguously, that the police had tortured and murdered Ngubene in scenes of stomach-turning cruelty. Du Toit goes through profound psychological turmoil as he realizes that the government and the police in which he had placed so much faith were instruments in the service of massive oppression, made all the more personally horrifying in that this oppression had allowed du Toit and others like him to live their lives in relative comfort and complacency, never having to observe the brutality and barbaric actions taken in the service of preserving that comfortable lifestyle, yet alone having to account for it. With the aid of British reporter Melanie Bruwer (Susan Sarandon), du Toit gather sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the "Special Branch" of the South African Police.Barrister Ian McKenzie (Marlon Brando) agrees to take du Toit's case, knowing in advance that the case will never succeed. Brando steals the show as he informs du Toit that the law and justice are "second cousins," and that in South Africa they are "simply not on speaking terms." The courtroom scenes are riveting, as McKenzie slowly but brutally exposes the horrifying manner in which Ngubene was murdered. Viewers should be prepared for a chilling account of the state of Ngubene's body as, for the first time during the trial, McKenzie raises his voice and lambasts the "Special Branch" for their handiwork.Unknown to du Toit, his wife Susan du Toit (wonderfully portrayed by Janet Suzman) had sneaked into the courtroom to watch the proceedings. The reaction of du Toit's family is mixed -- daughter Suzette du Toit (Susannah Harker) and wife Susan are furious with Ben, who is supported only by his son Johan (Rowen Elmes). In a scene that is profoundly disturbing precisely because of the sincerity of her beliefs and the validity of some of the points that she makes, Susan compares life in South Africa to life during a time of war, and exhorts Ben to choose the side of his people. She grapples with her conscience as she acknowledges that she does not believe that everything that the police does is right, bur she is adamant in her determination that Ben must reject the viewpoint of the black majority, even if that means rejecting the truth. She does not even try to hide her racism as she complains about not wanting Gordon's ghost to haunt her house; how she does not want "any of these kaffirs" in her house ever again, echoing daughter Suzette's comments about the newspaper photograph of Ben and widow Emily Ngubene leaving the courtroom ("Pa! You with a kaffir woman! You look like lovers!").Having failed to bring the government to account in criminal proceedings, du Toit decides to file a civil suit. He is supported in this endeavor by Stanley, Melanie, and his son Johan. However, against the backdrop of approaching Christmas, matters are fast spinning out of control. He is fired from his job as a teacher on the pretext of having missed too many classes. When he dismisses this pretext and demands to know why he has been fired, du Toit is informed by the headmaster that it is "a matter of loyalties." When the headmaster informs him that it would be better were Johann not to re-enroll at the beginning of the next term, stating that the school does not need traitors, du Toit literally backhands him across the face in what is certainly one of the movie's most satisfying moments.Stanley arrives at the du Toit residence on Christmas Day, stinking drunk. Emily Ngubebe has been killed -- she died trying to prevent her children from being deported to Zululand (one of the "Bantustans" created under apartheid). The Christmas party is ruined as du Toit's few remaining friends leave in disgust and outrage, and Susan leaves the house, uttering the thoughts that had, until that moment, been unstated by so many of du Toit's Afrikaaner friends ("What a pretty picture! A drunken kaffir and an Afrikaaner traitor. You deserve each other.") Events lead to a bitter climax in the remainder of this movie. Realizing that there is no longer time to file a civil suit, du Toit has to find a way of handing all of the evidence that he has uncovered (most of it in the form of affidavits) to the liberal South African newspaper ("The Rand Daily Mail," which was indeed a liberal paper until it closed shortly before the writer left the country). In a scene of searing sadness, du Toit relies on the knowledge that his daughter Suzette will betray him to send the police on the chase of a decoy.In terms of authenticity, this movie's faults are minor. Flaws in accent are minor in what is otherwise an incredibly sad unveiling of the human suffering beneath the lies; of the savagery that permitted du Toit and all white South Africans to live as they lived; and of the personal cost to those who were brave enough to dissent.