Really sad


I find it really sad that to make a South African movie, we feel the need to use foreign actors in lead roles, I mean, Juliet Binoche??? She's TERRIBLE. Brendan Gleeson? He's TERRIBLE!!!

Their accents suck and the acting even worse!



"I never knew magic crazy as this"

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What a silly post. There is no actor in SA that could hold a candle to Binoche (an icon of world cinema) or Gleeson (a superlative character actor)... South African films don't have to have South African lead actors...

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Excuse me but SA has LOTS of good actresses that DO hold a candle to Binoche, who isn't that great by the way. Anna Mart van der Merwe, Sandra Prinsloo, Musetta Vander are ALL brilliant, not forgetting the most famous...Charlize something-or-other!!! Brendan Gleeson might be a good character actor but his acting in "Country of my Skull" sucked.

I understand that to make these actors were employed to make the movie more accessible to international audiences, but who really cares about South African stories? The South Africans.



"I never knew magic crazy as this"

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Ha Ha HA! You are really trying to tell me Anna Mart van der Merwe, Sandra Prinsloo, Musetta Vander are in the same league as Juliette Binoche... one of the most respected actors in the world. Easily in the top 5 worldwide??? Hmmmmmmm

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Actually, yes, I AM saying that they are as good. She's in the top 5? On which planet?


"I never knew magic crazy as this"

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Look at her career past and present. Look at the list of directors she has worked with and lined up. Read what the critics have said in France and throoughout the world. There is no shortage of evidence. Tell me in what planet your listed performers even compete!

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Have to agree with Jasongrimshaw on all accounts. Binoche is without doubt one of the most respected and talented actors in the world. Her resume past and present says it all and she is ahead of any of the other actors mentioned.

In My Country was not one of her betteer films, but this is not down to her by any means. Her performance is excellent and her accent ok... any non SA was going to be lambasted for this role. To suggest her acting is terrible is wrong... she was let down by the overall treatment, but her actual performance is very good.

JB is in the top 5 for sure... arguably no 1!

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Yes, truly sad! I loved this movie! I loved Juliette Binoches's performance!
Her sorrow, her laughs, the scene where she dances, Wow, She is one of the best actresses of our time.

Too bad this movie didn't do too well at the box office. Well, it was expected here in US, where most people go to the movies to have fun and expect a happy ending.

Truly Sad!

Jubinne

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The saddest part of this movie, and others like it, is that to the people of the World, South Africans are now portrayed as either being oppressors or oppressed. This is not true.

I am 33 years old and had no part in the decisions that started the Apartheid-struggle. As a matter of fact, I was one of the White South Africans that voted to end Apartheid in 1992. I didn't known much about the politics but realized that any system that is so retarded as to use race a measure of one's worth, must be stopped.

Today, if you are a White South African, you are labelled as a racist by people in and out of SA. To imply something based solely on a person's colour is racism. Thus everyone who thinks I am a racist based on my colour is actually a racist themselves.

A friend of mine, S, is a Black South African. He is known as a previously disadvantaged South African. By the nature of his status he has more opportunities than a white citizen. However, he has never known poverty or being poor. He grew up in a wealthy family and attended a private school. Unlike me, he has been on vacation to tropical islands and been abroad more than anyone I know. So, to label him a poor oppressed Black South African is totally ridiculous.

A man that works for me, PK, is also a Black South African. He is a totally different story. He lives in a small room in a house in one of the townships (ghettos) of SA. He earns a minimum wage for unskilled work he does for me and my family as a gardener. He has to look after several family members on his small wage.

Obivously PK needs Government/public assitance whereas my rich friend S, doesn't. The problem is that my friend S and other people like him are getting every kind of scholarships, job-opportunities etc and PK is not. The rich gets richer . . . you know the rest. Government approved new salary increases for the cabinet of around 50%. The rest of the Government employees have to be happy with 6%.

Our country's leadership is more concerned with spending millions on changing names that offend them, rather than building houses for the millions of struggling people in my land. Everywhere in South Africa, street names, city names etc is being changed from 'apartheid' names to 'indigenous' names. I asked PK what is more important to him, to live in a house or to live in a street with a name that he can relate to. He didn't hesitate for a second! The problem is that the people changing the names live in mansions and have no feeling for the people on the street.

One name changed recently is of a street in a coastal town. The name was changed to a 'freedom-fighter' who planted a bomb in shopping centre which killed and maimed hundreds of people. The street is in the area where the bomb was planted. Imagine living in the street named after someone who killed your wife! A personal friend of mine's father-in-law lost both his legs in the terrorist attack. Talk about rubbing salt in a wound.

The leader of Russia(Mr.Putin) mentioned a time ago that one nation's 'freedom-fighter' is another's 'terrorist'. This so true that I couldn't believe someone in his position would say it in public. That statement must have hurt our leaders and of course the leaders of the other 'freedom-fighters' out there.

South Africa has probably the biggest potential of the developing nations of the world. We need to forget the past and concentrate on the future and the things that really matter.

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Well, you had me listening right up there til the end, johanngr ! Have you never heard the saying "those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it" ?

Yes, concentrate on now and focus on what is essential for today. But part of the "things that really matter" is to learn from past mistakes so that the future CAN be better. Movies like "In My Country" I think help us to realize it is not so simple as just "getting rid of all the bad guys". You're a good writer and I'm not trying to disregard your story. Thank you for posting these thoughts.

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I completely get Spaceygirl, although I agree with you (jasongrimshaw) that Juliette Binoche is one of the best actresses of all time.

The point is, that Juliette's Afrikaans accent was AWEFUL in this movie and to those of us who do understand Afrikaans and who are South African, it was a huge deterrance throughout the movie.

The point is, that list of performers have performed at right at the top on THE SOUTH AFRICAN PLANET!!!! And this is what makes your comments so offensive. Have you subsequently even tried looking up any of those names? They are all HUGELY talented actresses that have made EXCELLENT South African films, tv series, and acted in world-recognised South African stage productions. (maybe just not on your planet, hey?)

The point is also that while she proclaimes it several times throughout the movie, Binoche just cannot capture that sense of guilt many white South Africans feel over issues they did not even have much control over. Yes, people "knew" that what was happening was wrong and most likely very violent, but I don't think that any of the general white polulation could ever imagine how bad it could get. I also think that most of the general black population had no idea what some of their own people were doing to their own in the name of liberation.

I mean, hell, USA elected Bush Jnr two times in a row.......doesn't that make them caupable for some of the real violence and damage that the government has does in other countries and in their own?

Binoche, no matter how good (and I even thought her performance was fine in this movie), just did not capture the role as it should have been, with all the complexities it should have had. And sinse Krog is such a powerful voice in the book, I think that this takes something away from the movie that a SA Actress would have saved.

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