Winnie, l'autre Mandela

While her husband Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, Winnie Mandela became one of the leaders of the struggle against apartheid. This television movie shows the restrictions placed upon her life by the authorities and the abuse she had to deal with from the South African state, namely the police who would regularly arrest her, interrogate her, abuse her and thrash her home

Winnie Mandela may had been shy when she first met Nelson, but over the years she toughened up. Eventually she became a celebrity in her own right but rumours emerged that she had become a monster with her personal bodyguards routinely imprisoning and torturing alleged collaborators and police informers. One of them being murdered.

Just a few years after Nelson's release from Robben Island, the couple had separated. Winnie Mandela had to watch from the sidelines as he became President of South Africa.

The film has a bravura performance from both Sophie Okonedo and David Harewood. However the narrative did not entirely work for me with the interrogation scenes proving distracting. The film does not show Winnie being either a saint or sinner but more a strong willed, complex survivor.

Saw this totally unexpectedly as I had missed it the first time around and the BBC put it out (with virtual no prior notice!) on the evening of the day on which the death (in real life) of the title character was announced. We were absolutely stunned by the acting of the lead actress who manages to cram so many feelings and emotions into just 90 minutes! She manages to portray every aspect of Mrs Mandela's life one can think of; the vulnerability and yet the core of steel running through her, the need for love and yet the unlimited ability to hate which develops, the mother who ends up instigating the killing of a young boy, the woman of enormous charisma and ability who is forced into "second place", the wife and mother who is abandoned and endures torment and degradation on scales which can hardly be imagined and YET can still emerge with head held (very) high and still refusing to be cowed, the woman who can gain the reverence of a whole township and appears assured, confident and determined, whilst fighting demons (not least out of a bottle) in her own private space etc. etc. All the other actors (even though turning in highly commendable and memorable performances in most cases) just pale in comparison with this master class in acting. Should be absolute required viewing for anyone wanting to begin to understand modern world history, the life of a tremendously gifted, but also deeply flawed, individual and, above all, wanting to see acting on the screen at its very best.

"If you marry Mandela, you marry the cause and you live in his shadow." Those words were offered early in this TV docu-drama by Winnie Mandela (played absolutely brilliantly by Sophie Okonedo.) The movie traces Winnie's evolution from an uncertain wife of a larger than life figure who struggles with those words, to an increasingly jealous and ambitious woman who tires of living in Mandela's shadow and is increasingly unwilling to be married to the cause - because she wants to lead the cause. That tension reaches its height when Nelson is released from prison, and Winnie - after being at the top of the heap for a long time - is suddenly reminded that now she needs to act "like Prince Philip" - walking one step behind Mandela at all times. The movie makes the clear point that their relationship was in trouble the moment Nelson was released from prison. Interspersed throughout the movie are scenes of Winnie's own brutal and abusive interrogation by the white South African police, and a depiction of how brutal and abusive she eventually became toward other blacks who she felt had betrayed the cause.

In addition to Okonedo, David Harewood offered a convincing performance as Nelson Mandela (although he was definitely in Okonedo's shadow) and Garth Breytenbach was frighteningly convincing as the South African police officer in charge of Winnie's interrogation. This was undoubtedly a difficult movie to make - first because it deals with figures who are still very much with us (Nelson has deservedly become something of a legend) and second because it spans so much time and so much history and so many issues and events that to do it justice in the course of a 90 minute TV movie is probably impossible. No doubt there are times when this seems somewhat rushed, or when some things don't seem to be sufficiently explained or put into their proper context. Even with those limitations, though, this really can't fail but to be seen as a powerful and superb production. 9/10

At the start thought I was watching a US 50's civil rights film, but realised the story once the Afrikaner evil Nazis arrived. Winnie was, is and always will be a divisive person no matter where in the political spectrum you sit. She had much to admire and so much to despise. This film seems to try hard to give reasons why she was so intense on revenge rather than rapprochement. She was the most dangerous woman South Africa has ever seen, only one man could stop her remorseless advance. He did.