Film Review of Goodbye Bafana

1. In general, what did you like and dislike about the film?

Overall, I enjoyed the film. After just watching, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, which was based on Nelson Mandela's autobiography, it was interesting to see James Gregory's point of view. The film was questioned by many because of the accuracy of Gregory's biography. This is because Anthony Sampson, a lifelong friend of Nelson Mandela and his biographer, claims that Gregory lied in his biography ("Goodbye Bafana, Nelson Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend") and that he rarely talked to Mandela and just censored his letters, so that is how he knew so much about him.

I do really like the role that the Xhusa language played, it connected Mandela and Gregory.

In terms of the film, I thought it was decently done. I think seeing the perspective of a white family during the apartheid was intriguing and especially through a child's eyes, who sees that the apartheid is wrong and brutal.


2. Who was the character you liked the most and the character you liked the least in the film? Why?

The character that I liked the most in the film was Nelson Mandela. Although Dennis Haysbert's performance wasn't as passionate as Idris Elba's, I think he showed a good version of Nelson Mandela. This version of Nelson Mandela seemed a lot less "Hollywood-like" and more realistic because for example he used Xhusa to secretly communicate with James Gregory and defended the ANC a lot.

The character I liked the least was James Gregory because throughout the entire film, the audience is expected to feel sympathetic towards him and I didn't feel any at all. It just seemed like a typical guilty white-man who tries "to do something" but really doesn't do anything at all to change the situation of oppression.


3. How do the versions of James Gregory, Nelson Mandela, and Winnie Mandela compare between  Goodbye Bafana and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom?

The version of James Gregory in Long Walk to Freedom was friendly towards Nelson Mandela, but was not that close as he was depicted in Goodbye Bafana. Also, in Long Walk to Freedom I think the version of Gregory is a lot easier to sympathize with than the one from Goodbye Bafana because we don't see him "behind the scenes" as so to speak.

Nelson Mandela in Long Walk to Freedom was a lot more complete than the version in Goodbye Bafana. Although, we get to see a lot of him in Goodbye Bafana, I think the performance was a lot weaker. What is interesting though is that we see a more radical Mandela in Goodbye Bafana, especially his defense of the ANC and the armed struggle throughout the film.

Winnie Mandela in Goodbye Bafana was barely present in the film versus the version of Winnie in Long Walk to Freedom. In fact, in Goodbye Bafana she played a secondary role and only visited Nelson Mandela. We never got to see her develop alone, which just shows how sexist storytelling can be.