Filmed in Zimbabwe and England, and based on the novel by Andre Brink, this is the tale of a mushy liberal facing up to the situation under apartheid in 1976 South Africa. Sutherland is excellent as thoughtful Benjamin du Toit, a schoolteacher at first puzzled then outraged when his black gardener disappears and turns out to have been jailed and beaten into "suicide" after participating in a demonstration with black schoolchildren. In pursuing the truth, he alienates most of his family, loses his job, but finds meaning to his life, if not satisfaction. Suzman is good as his puzzled, unsympathetic wife, Sarandon has a brief appearance as a reporter, but Brando's 10 minutes on screen as a cynical but philosophical attorney who takes on the hopeless task of prosecuting the state police are magnificent -- he is a Dickensian figure with his half-eye reading glasses and gentle rasp. This 1989 film is earnest and a bit stolid (rather like "Mississippi Burning"), but does a good job.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
