Una árida estación blanca

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.

One day in South Africa in the 1960's, a young black man was walking along the street with his aged mother. Coming along the road was a young white man. The young black man knew that apartheid law and custom meant that the white would probably barge the two blacks off the pavement and into the gutter. The law would protect him and the young black man might be imprisoned for defending himself. The young black man tensed his muscles and prepared to defend his mother, but was amazed when the Englishman stepped off the pavement and doffed his broad brimmed hat in greeting. Later on the two would become friends and allies. The white man was to become bishop Trevor Huddleston, the black man, bishop Desmond Tutu.

That story is NOT the story of A Dry White season, but it is of a kindred spirit. Like the gesture of Trevor Huddleston, the story of Ben de Tor is a gesture against apartheid. A glimmer of hope, but merely that, a flicker.

It must be five years since I saw a Dry White Season but I still remember how I felt leaving the cinema. It is a film which will stay with you.

The plot follows a white South African on an adventure through bewilderment, revelation, denial, disgust, and a futile attempt to fight a grossly unfair system.

I can't go into detail after this length of time but the cameos in this film would be worth the video rental. Marlon Brando (yes) steals the show as the lawyer who knows exactly how hopeless the fight against apartheid is but agrees to fight anyway.

The political situation today in South Africa is a world away from that of A Dry White Season. Watch it and never forget.

It's 1976. Ben du Toit (Donald Sutherland) is a liberal South African schoolmaster and a former rugby star. He is shocked by the police beating of his gardener Gordon's son but does nothing. When the kids gather to protest the teaching of Afrikaans, the police reply with violence. Gordon's son goes missing. Ben, in his sheltered life, tries to help and the police tells him that he's dead. Ben again advises Gordon to leave it alone. Gordon continues to investigate and gets arrested. Captain Stolz (Jürgen Prochnow) is the man in charge of torturing Gordon. Gordon's wife brings lawyer Stanley Makhaya (Zakes Mokae). The police claims that Gordon committed suicide. Stanley brings Ben to the Soweto township and shown the truth of his torture. Melanie Bruwer (Susan Sarandon) is a newspaper reporter. Civil rights lawyer Ian McKenzie (Marlon Brando) relents to Ben and takes on the case.

Ben is a clueless idiot at the start of the movie and that is the part that I dislike most about the movie. It would be so much better for Ben to be in denial. Sutherland plays it so wide eye and ill-informed. It would be more dramatic and better as character development that he doesn't come off as ignorant at the beginning. The court case in the middle drags on a little too much. It's often hard to switch into court like that. There isn't the shock of revelation since the movie already showed the torture earlier. This is also very heavy handed. This feels like a sermon more than a drama. Having Marlon Brando there pontificating doesn't help. The other problem is that after the court case, the movie goes back to the white folks. Even though it's not the movie intention, the black folks get sidelined. Nevertheless, it's an interesting attempt at bringing South Africa to the big screen.

We are Mrs Cisar's pupils in Dumont d'Urville high school in Caen, France. We are sixteen and we study in the 11th grade. We have been learning English for six years. We watched the film A Dry White Season in the English class and we had to sum up and give our opinion on this film.

The film takes place in South Africa, during Apartheid in 1976. A white man (Ben), who is a teacher in a white school decided to defend his gardener who was beaten to death by the police. It's the story of a white person who wants to help the blacks in their fight against segregation.

We liked this film because it made us understand the horrible situation in South Africa during Apartheid. We could never have imagined that this kind of things could have happened there, so it taught us what life during Apartheid was like. That makes the film very educational for everybody and makes our mentalities evolve. The film is very interesting because there is suspense and we didn't know if justice would be done. It also showed us that people should not be judged on the colour of their skins, but on their characters.

Even if this film is very shocking sometimes and violent, we recommended it to our friends in order to make them understand what Apartheid was and what segregation is. This is still a burning issue in our society.

Watch this film and you will know what Apartheid was really about;

Thomas Alexis Gautier Ewan

I believe this to be one of Marlon Brando's most underrated performances. The film itself is a splendid period piece of Apartheid South Africa. I rarely see this movie mentioned in biographical comment with regard to Brando's career, and yet, it is a stunning performance. I assume the lack of comment is the fact that he only played a supporting role, and that the subject of apartheid probably denied it a higher profile. As somebody who has lived in South Africa, both before and after apartheid, i cannot tell you how accurate the performance of Brando is in this role. There is no doubt in my mind that he must have studied meticulously before playing this part. I do not know why, but there are a large percentage of professional people in South Africa who have an almost perfect "Queen's English" accent...but it is tinged with a slight South African edge which only the most perceptive can detect. Not only does Marlon Brando capture this perception, but he somehow manages to replicate it, which i have always found truly incredible. You would have to live South Africa to know how fantastic his voicing is in this part, but believe me, apart from the power of his acting, this role is a truly stunning illustration of his amazing ability. I hope this movie will obtain the higher profile it deserves in the future.

Manny Wah Hong Kong