A World Apart

If this is indicative of things to come, Jodhi May will be one strong actress to reckon with. Barbara Hershey has never been better, but Jodhi May steals the show as her neglected daughter struggling with terms of identity and growth in South Africa pre-Apartheid. This one is truly a gem. I highly recommend seeing it at any opportunity. I have a copy of it I taped off the television years and years ago. I'm hoping one day it is released on DVD.

Like "Cry Freedom" the previous year, "A World Apart" shows life in apartheid-era South Africa. This one tells the story of the Slovo family, who were trying to bring down apartheid (the names are changed in the movie). The father has had to flee the country after threats against him. The daughter (Jodhi May) is bullied in school, where her classmates call her father a "traitor". Finally, the mother (Barbara Hershey) is arrested. The daughter then truly begins to see the oppressive system through the eyes of the black population.

The whole story resembles that of the Rosenberg children, right down to the fate of the parents (Mrs. Slovo was assassinated in 1982). And it is so horrible to think that this vile agenda was in power for over forty years. There may be some things in life that we will never be able to get over.

I saw this film in 1988 when it first came out. I was looking forward to seeing it on DVD but I must confess I was very disappointed. I found it excessively slow, with few dialogues, and in fact, plain boring. It should be at least 1/2 hr shorter.

True, there are moments of real poignancy in "A world apart" and Jodhi May is an excellent actress but there just doesn't seem to be much going on for most of half the film. Maybe the fact that apartheid has been defeated and that so much has happened in S. Africa since makes it less momentous.

For anyone interested in S. Africa, I recommend watching "Cry Freedom", "A white dry season" or even "The power of one" instead. These films at least seek to explain their characters involvement with the anti-apartheid movement. In "A world apart", there's no such character growth so far as the mother is concerned. Her involvement has to be taken for granted.

The first dramatic feature directed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Chris Menges tackles the injustices of Apartheid, without trivializing the issues or compromising the dramatic integrity of its script. Instead of adopting a gratuitous high moral tone, Menges concentrates first on telling a good story, following the growth to maturity of an adolescent (white) girl, already racially color blind, who feels neglected by her journalist/activist mother. The film might be criticized for once again using white protagonists to educate audiences about the black experience in South Africa, but it's a hollow complaint: writer Shawn Slovo based her script on personal experience, and the depth of its detail reflects her crystal-clear memories of growing up in Johannesburg during the early 1960s.

That the film succeeds more on a personal level in no way diminishes its political message, which unlike other anti-Apartheid dramas is never force-fed in condescending spoonfuls ("I know that already; stop treating me like a baby!" cries the frustrated young heroine after yet another lecture from mom). No easy solutions are offered, and the film ends in just another riot, suggesting with cautious optimism the hope for ultimate victory after what promises to be a long and difficult struggle.

I saw this film years ago, and some of it's scenes still haunts me. The story is set in South Africa and it's about a family which will be eventually destroyed by the problems there. The then very young Jothi May it quiet impressive in her debut and Barbara Hershey is equally good.