The many emotional scars left by South Africa's history of institutionalized racism come under the microscope in this drama. As South Africa comes to terms with the legacy of apartheid, their government has created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in which the perpetrators of racial violence and injustice must come face to face with their victims if they are to be forgiven for their crimes. Langston Whitfield (Samuel L. Jackson) is an African-American journalist who is assigned to cover
these hearings by The Washington Post; Whitfield doubts the efficacy of this process, and sets out to interview Col. De Jager (Brendan Gleeson), a notorious former officer of the South African police who was famous for his violence against blacks in order to put this method to the test. While in South Africa, Whitfield meets Anna Malan (Juliette Binoche), an Afrikaner poet who is covering the hearing for a radio station and is both appalled and disturbed by the details of the violence inflicted against her countrymen. After striking up a friendship, Whitfield and Malan become romantically involved as they try to come to terms with their feelings about what they've learned. Also screened under the title Country of My Skull, In My Country was adapted from a book by South African author Antjie Krog. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Is it a docudrama about South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings? Or is it love story? The problem with In My Country is that it tries to be both.
Need[s] to be seen, as essential history and as demonstration of a form of social reckoning where compassion triumphs over passion, and the olive branch over the gun.
Failing to get beyond trite Hollywood romantic conventions, sermonizing caricatures and 'I was just following orders' explanations does a great disservice to history.
In spite of narrative missteps that negate the possibility of an empathetic protagonist, "In My Country" does viably introduce the African principle of "Ubuntu" whereby evil transgressions are absolved rather than revenged.
Intelligent piece that does its job as entertainment. More importantly, it should advance public knowledge about the apartheid government's human rights violations.
Its star, Juliette Binoche, may be a fine actress, but she's also very French. And no matter how hard she tries to perfect the tricky Afrikaans accent, she's simply not believable playing a South African poet.
The gripping material is given short thrift in favor of routine melodrama and a love story that has nearly nothing to do with what should be the crux of the story.
You feel insulted you're expected to care about the petty problems of the leads when other characters are dealing with child murder, political torture and genocide.
an importamt film, especially in these times,. discussion of nations and the impact of segregation and further, aparteid torture has on the individual and the world. if you wonder how to show compassion to those who have caused harm, without more violence, this is a must see.
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