Skin

It's 1965 Eastern Transvaal, South Africa. Sandra Laing is the young daughter of white Afrikaner parents Abraham (Sam Neill) and Sannie Laing (Alice Krige). She is kicked out of her all-white school for her African features despite being born as white. She is reclassified as colored and Abraham overturns it in court. At 17 in 1973, she has a relationship with black Petrus which drives a rift in between her family.

It's a compelling intriguing real life story. It takes a look at Apartheid from a different angle. There is a tough question at the center of the movie that is left uncertain. It does leave the movie at a disadvantage dealing with real people. Nothing is quite as clean in real life.

Background: A dramatization of the life of Sandra Laing who we see speaking in the end credits. This South African story begins in 1966 during the apartheid era with a white store owner and their two children one of whom, Sandra Laing, has features that would be controversially classified as "coloureds" (mixed ethnic/racial & commonly w/white males) along with blacks & whites & Asians (mostly Indian).

Criticism: Whenever white, mostly Dutch, Afrikaners are presented they are almost all portrayed as vile & as nasty as can be. Could this have been so universally true?

Story: At the time people were defined/registered by their skin color. We see Sandra undergoing a magistrate's exam by having her skin examined & a pencil placed into her hair to test for holding power meant to distinguish coloureds & blacks from whites. Later we hear a courtroom geneticist testimony that most Afrikaners (white Dutch) carry "black" genes (guffaws from the white audience on hearing that) thus a recombination could produce darker skin & hair (called polygenic inheritance). Later in our story the registration laws were changed to make descent rather than appearance the determining factor. We follow Sandra into the '80s as she grows up & the alienation from her family. You get a feel for the effects of racism on a person that no written story could convey. How it divides & breaks whatever goodness is in people. We see Sandra at the end with her Rainbow Tuck Shop (a very small shop selling food, etc.). And this from her, "It's what's in the inside of you that matters, not the outside."

Comment: I can think of some politicians, particularly one, raised in a wealthy privileged setting w/servants that while growing up could have benefited from seeing this story.

This story about a dark-skinned girl born to white Afrikaners during the apartheid era will come as a revelation to anyone who has forgotten what South Africa was like before the transformation brought about by Nelson Mandela and his colleagues. Not that South Africa is out of the jungle of racial conflict; it certainly isn't. But one hopes that the fate inflicted on Sandra Liang because of her color could happen today.

The story is gripping. The direction and the photography are efficient. The two best known actors in this film, Sophie Okenado ( Rawanda) and Sam Neill, are excellent as the adult Sandra and her Afrikaner father. But other unfamiliar players are also very good

This film follows the tragic story about a girl named Sandra Laing attempting to define who she is as a person during the repressive time of apartheid. Born into a white family, yet having a dark skin tone, commonly referred to scientifically as polygenetic inheritance, Sandra is constantly questioning her sense of identity and belonging amongst people that, supposedly, love her. The film powerfully encapsulates this woman's struggle throughout her arduous life, and as a viewer leaves you inspired by her courage and effort to simply live a happy and liberated life. In essence, it's a tragic yet inspiring story that should be heard and acknowledged by all people.

This is a great film that is based on the true story of Sandra Liang in South Africa. Sandra, who has dark skin, was born to two white parents in the heat of the apartheid. She struggles to define herself against the classifications of society. Her dad, who is racist, causes strain on her own self discovery, and strains her relationship with her mother as well. The film chronicles her adventures at an all white school, as well as her marriage to a black man, although she is "white". Her journey is intriguing. The film itself makes you question the race-labeling system.

It is a great film that will raise questions and spark intriguing debates on what it means to be black.