While many books and films about South Africa’s Apartheid have attempted to utter the tension and the eventual dissolution of that sociopolitical plot, few histories bring us as stop to the core of the schism as does Bille August’s splendid film THE COLOR OF FREEDOM. Based on the book GOODBYE BAFANA by James Gregory (with Bob Graham) the record details the relationship between Nelson Mandela and prison warden James Gregory during Mandela’s long imprisonment on Robben Island off the sail of South Africa, and the tedious friendship that occurred between these disparate men. Studying this development of a friendship provides an opportunity to better understand the idea of Apartheid and of the evils of racism in general.
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Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment on the desolate Robben Island for his non-violent attempts to ruin racism in South Africa, attempts that eventually resulted in work stoppages and resistance movements that moved the sigh, well-educated lawyer Mandela into the realm of activism. While on Robben Island he was guarded by one James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes), a pro-apartheid, cruel prison employee who was assigned to Mandela as a glance and censor because of Gregory’s knowledge of the local language Xhosa (learned from his childhood when his best friend was a shaded boy named Bafana) . Gregory lives on the island with this wife (Diane Kruger) and children and his commitment to his family provides a stark dissimilarity to his hatred of his sad ‘Kaffir’ prisoners: his involvement with the pro-apartheid place is strengthened by his yell communication with Intelligence in the cities of South Africa where his censored information from the prisoners leads to definitive lift and ‘disposal’ of the blacks. On a slump ashore Gregory and his wife and children spy first hand the beatings and cruelties of the whites against the blacks and Gregory returns to his duties on Robben Island with a gradually changing point of idea for the model prisoner Mandela. They originate communicating in Xhosa and Gregory allows Mandela’s wife Winnie (Faith Ndukwana) to exercise more committed time with her husband on her restricted visits to Robben island. One particular misstep – Gregory passes Mandela’s Christmas gift of a allotment of chocolate to Winnie – threatens Gregory’s dwelling on the island, while at the same time bonding Mandela and Gregory like brothers. Gregory’s life and philosophy have been changed by Mandela’s mighty personality and spirit and his eventual release from prison into the novel, freed South Africa has been aided in a cramped but meaningful scheme by Gregory – a reflection of Gregory’s childhood bond with his friend Bafana.
August captures the tension and the atmosphere of South Africa in this visually handsome film. Fiennes is suited as James Gregory as is Diane Kruger as his wife. Dennis Haysbert conveys the spiritual essence of Mandela despite the fact that his physical appearance is not at all like the Mandela known so well from the composed constant photographs of the shrimp freedom fighter we scrutinize frequently. But the film does boom the tenor of the changing times during the 27-year confinement of Nelson Mandela. The featurettes on the DVD offer lengthy history lessons about the steady events referenced in the film and add immeasurably to the film’s overall success. There is considerable to learn from this film in addition to the fact that it is a solid work of cinematic artistry. Grady Harp, July 08
“The Color of Freedom” (also known as “Goodbye Bafana”) is based on the memoirs of James Gregory, South African prison guard and censor officer, who died in 2003. The name of the book is “Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend,” and you may contemplate the book title tells all you have to know. In fact, the truth is a bit different in the film directed by Bille August (“Pelle the Conqueror”) . (And I know the controversy over the current book, but I will not talk about it here.)
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Though August’s film is inspired by the life of a man who guarded one of the most valuable political figures of our time, the fable of “The Color of Freedom” is not exactly about Nelson Mandela (played by Dennis Haysbert) . It is more about James Gregory himself and his family – his wife (Diane Kruger) and their children – and the spiritual transformation James goes through. The fable is told against the background of fresh South African history, but its perspective is always that of James Gregory.
“The Color of Freedom” can be seen as a portrait of a man caught between his ideal and reality, or family and establishment. Top-notch officers don’t like the conception of a warden talking obliging with the prisoners, grand less reading Freedom Charter in secret. While watching the film, I understanding his friendship with Nelson Mandela could easily jeopardize James’s spot and James would have to pay the notice of his spiritual freedom, but … well, I cannot sing the location, which I mediate is not very dramatic. But you may gather it differently.
Dennis Haysber is surprisingly kindly as Nelson Mandela and Joseph Fiennes did a ample job, actually his career-best acting, as the protagonist. The locations of South Africa provide radiant sceneries and the credible backdrop for the yarn, but the characters of James Gregory and Nelson Mandela need to be fleshed out more, especially the latter. To understand the changes that happened in James, we have to know more about Nelson Mandela and his personality, but the script lacks information and insight, which could have made the film grand better.
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