South Africa and Apartheid in Film

1. Who was your favorite character from the film? Why? I want to start off by saying this movie was really incredible and I'm glad this course gave me the opportunity to watch it; it made me emotional and angry, I even cried and sometimes snapped at the screen while seeing it. There's a lot of amazing characters throughtout the film, but my favorite has to be Steve Biko because he was so ahead of his time and constantly spoke such wise words, it sometimes got me thinking maybe he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize even more than Nelson Mandela. Anyways, Biko is portrayed really beautifully in the movie and I think his character being shown through a white south african's eyes, who at first disliked him but then becomes his friend, is proof that the words he spoke and the pain he felt could be understood simply beacuse of common sense, no need to be black or on the worst side of oppression. Another characters I really liked were: Donald Woods' friend Father Kani, becau...

1. In general, what did you like and dislike about the film? I think so far this movie has been my favorite because it feels a lot more real than the other two we watched before, maybe because the director wasn't trying to portray the protagonist as a perfect hero, but rather as a dynamic character who evolves throughout the movie and has his own struggles and flaws. Comparing it to Goodbye Bafana, we can clearly see how one exalted the main character way too much while the other let Patrick Chamusso's personality evolve naturally along the film. One particular scene that I really liked was right after the military ambushed the ANC quarters and members from both organizations died, and the movie shows a parallel between the funerals. That part just made me so emotional, seeing all the people who were fighting to end the apartheid sing and mourn their losses that way was really moving and beautiful. Also, because the official funeral from the south african government was cold...