A Dry White Season (1989)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Euzhan Palcy

Writers (WGA):

Andre Brink (novel)
Colin Welland (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 September 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Thriller

Plot:

Ben du Toit is a schoolteacher who always has considered himself a man of caring and justice, at least on the individual level...

Plot Keywords:

Police | School | Demonstration | Rugby | Apartheid

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	Ben du Toit
Janet Suzman	...	Susan du Toit
Zakes Mokae	...	Stanley Makhaya
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Captain Stolz (as Jurgen Prochnow)
Susan Sarandon	...	Melanie Bruwer
Marlon Brando	...	Ian McKenzie
Winston Ntshona	...	Gordon Ngubene
Thoko Ntshinga	...	Emily Ngubene
Leonard Maguire	...	Bruwer
Gerard Thoolen	...	Colonel Viljoen
Susannah Harker	...	Suzette du Toit
Andrew Whaley	...	Chris
Rowen Elmes	...	Johan du Toit
Stella Dickin	...	Susan's Mother
David de Keyser	...	Susan's Father (as David De Keyser)

Runtime:

97 min | West Germany:107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Davros Films

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When the camera pulls away from the court house (Harare City Hall) a bus drives past displaying an advertisement for Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, which flew to Zimbabwe, but not to South Africa under apartheid during the 1970s.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 62nd Annual Academy Awards (1990) (TV)

Soundtrack:

YINI KODWA YINI

A reminder of the brutality of Apartheid

Having just seen it on the TV again after a number of years it is a stark reminder of the terror imposed on the black population by the security apparatus of S. Africa during the years of Apartheid.

The part with Marlon Brando as the human rights lawyers is particularly good exposing the ludicrous nature of a system that is completely repressive while maintaining the fiction that it is not.

This film should be compulsory viewing in any educational course studying recent African history

A personal reminiscence:-

I was living in Zimbabwe from 87-89 and I remember when the film was being shot on location there. They were shooting the scene at the end when it is raining but it was during the dry season in Zimbabwe in the local news they recorded the fact that they'd had to make their own rain with lots of hoses etc.