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In My Country (2004)

Starring Juliette Binoche as Anna Malan
Samuel L. Jackson as Langston Whitfield
Sony Picture Classics
Director: John Boorman (Deliverance, The Tailor of Panama)
Adapted from the book by Antjie Krog:
Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa

“We have to live together!”

Two years after the end of Apartheid in 1994, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission began its investigation into human rights abuses between the Sharpeville riots in 1960 and the inauguration of Mandela in May, 1994. The object of the TRC was to achieve help harmony in post-Apartheid South Africa through “Ubuntu” – the act of absolving a transgression rather than seeking retribution; it is forgiveness over revenge. Tens of thousands testified before the Commission, and several thousand were granted amnesty after soul-searching truth telling and demonstrating that they were “following orders.”

A poet and married mother of three sons, the Afrikaner poet Anna Malan attends the TRC meetings as a member of the South African and international press. As she hears the stories of horrifying abuse, Anna is forced to explore her deepest feelings about her people and her culture when accuser and accused meet face-to-face. Overwrought, she is guilt-ridden with her country’s “hidden history of its shameful past.” Anna meets the disconnected, self-righteous Afro-American reporter for the Washington Post, Langston Whitfield, and the inevitable happens.

If the two stars too often slip into triteness in speech and performance for the film to be deeply satisfying, these lapses are compensated by the wonderful shooting of South Africa’s awesome physical beauty marred by racial injustice and the authenticity of dozens of faces and scenes of daily life that capture the South Africa that captures us all.

Running down the backbone of the film is the great performance of Irish actor Brendan Gleeson as the villainous Colonel De Jaeger - the epitome of evil under Apartheid and a big-game hunter (of course!). His walls are decorated with mounts of hartebeest, warthog, caracal and Cape buffalo as he reveals in detail his acts, motives, and feelings.

In My Country asks many questions: How do we do the unthinkable? Is simply telling the truth enough? One question speaks for them all: “Tell me why you did it so that I can forgive you.”

Yes, in the sleepy post-prandial state (in which I watch most rental movies), I experienced occasional aggravation at the acting and yawns during some of the more stereotypic moments, dialogues and caricatures that are found in any film that addresses the issue of race.

While I do not say run out and rent it, if you’re TV zapping and want to see a South Africa that has astonished the world with its ability to heal, you wouldn’t be wasting your time watching this movie.

To see the trailer, go to: www.inmycountry.com