Had the same problem with this film about Apartheid that I had with "Mississippi Burning". Namely, if you want to make a movie about racism toward black people then you had best have the black characters in it be something more than mere supporting players. It is, frankly, offensive to watch groups of Africans discriminated against, beaten and oppressed without getting to know any one African individual beyond the superficial (i.e. He likes Chubby Checker or she's a really friendly maid). And to the objection that I imagine director Chris Menges and writer Shawn Slovo would make that this is, in essence, a mother/daughter story I would reply that the conflict between Diana Roth and her daughter is soft peddled and muted in favor of the anti Apartheid theme to the point of non existence so that when they do have their big dramatic confrontation it is neither big nor dramatic but comes across as too little, too late.
Good Barbara Hershey take, though, on the revolutionary as saint, if less than exemplary mom. Hershey's a really good actor whose personal life has been allowed somewhat to eclipse her talent.
Bottom line: Check out the much better "Dry White Season", made a year later, for how this story should be told (and how to integrate African stories with Caucasian). C plus.
