Dvd
Skin
A South African apartheid true-story drama about Sandra Laing, an African child born in the 1950s to Afrikaners, unaware of their black ancestry. Her parents (Sam Neill and Alice Krige) are rural shopkeepers who lovingly bring her up as their ‘white’daughter.
Sandra is sent to a boarding school in the neighbouring town of Piet Retief, where her (white) brother Leon is also studying, but parents and teachers complain that she doesn’t belong. She is examined by State officials, reclassified as ‘coloured’, and expelled from the school. Her parents fight through the courts to have the classification reversed and the story becomes an international scandal. Thus begins Sandra's thirty-year journey from rejection to acceptance.
As an adult, Sandra is played by Sophie Okenedo (Hotel Rwanda).
Starring Sam Neill, Sophie Okonedo, Tony Kgoroge, Alice Krige, Ella Ramangwane , Jonathan Pienaar
Directed by Anthony Fabian (feature debut)
Written by Helen Crawley, Anthony Fabian, Jessie Keyt, Helena Kriel
True Story, Drama | 1hr 47mins | Origin: UK, South Africa | Official Site »
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The Talk
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Flicks review
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2
Based on a true story, Skin dramatizes the events that saw a full-blooded white girl in apartheid South Africa classified as coloured due to her physical appearance. This central conceit could have made for an interesting deconstruction of those absurd, draconian laws, but sadly the movie is more interested in covering territory similar ‘message movies’ already have.
The ‘racism is bad’ theme is one that has been played out and seems to have exhausted fresh, interesting cinematic approaches. There are a few genuinely moving moments here but they are more concerned with the hatred directed towards the heroine rather than her personal struggle so are quickly abandoned. Instead she trudges on through the blunt social commentary wearing a perpetually sad expression that carries less emotional weight with each appearance. To be fair, she doesn’t get a chance to show much range as the world of her story is filled with characters that are either totally good or evil. This ‘black and white’ (pardon the expression) characterization robs the film of any real subtlety or depth.
Familiar face Sam Neill will probably be the highlight for local viewers, nailing the South African accent and seething with racist rage below his fatherly veneer. There’s some nice African landscape photography here too, but none of this shakes the feeling that you’re watching something akin to a Sunday afternoon TV movie of the week.SHARE:
The people's reviews
3 reviews
Press Reviews
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Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
This great film by Anthony Fabian tells this story through the eyes of a happy girl who grows into an outsider.
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Christchurch Press (Margaret Agnew)
3
Extreme conditions breed exceptional stories. Just as countless dramas sprang out of Nazi Germany, there are a plethora of tales to come out of apartheid-era South Africa.
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Hollywood Reporter
The fact that it's actually based on a true story adds an extra layer of poignancy, heightened further by another superb Sophie Okonedo performance.
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Los Angeles Times
Too many of the characters are either good or bad, and that loss of nuance is missed.
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New York Times
Alas, Mr. Fabian, directing his first feature-length fiction film, uses a club whenever a feather would do. He also mishandles the actors, in particular Mr. Neill and Ms. Okonedo, both of whom have been incomparably better elsewhere.
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TV3 (Kate Rodger)
Sam Neill is back on the big screen, sporting facial hair and a South African accent, in a new film called Skin.
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Variety (USA)
One of the more bizarre illustrations of racial injustice under apartheid is dramatized in Skin.
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