Review: A Dry White Season
Blu-ray: A Dry White Season (1989)
Directed by Euzan Palcy and co-written by Colin Welland, based upon André Brink’s novel, A Dry White Season was made in a time when Apartheid was still in place in South Africa
Based in South Africa in 1976, Ben Du Toit (Donald Sutherland) is a South African ‘hero’, a former Springboks rugby player and now a history teacher in a school for white boys.
One day, the son of his gardener, Gordon Ngubene (Winston Ntshona), gets beaten by the corrupt South African police. He shows them the whip marks on his son’s bottom. Later, the same son gets mixed up in a peaceful demonstration for a better education for black kids, and when he doesn’t return home later that day, his dad Gordon asks Ben for help. Ben refuses as he thinks the police must have had a good reason to arrest his son. Gordon himself is arrested for being a trouble maker and is tortured by Captain Stolz (Jürgen Prochnow).
Against the will of his wife Susan (Janet Suzman) and his daughter Suzette (Susannah Harker), Ben tries to find out more about the disappearance of his gardener and finds they are both dead. On seeing Gordon’s body, Ben finally realises it’s the police who are murdering whoever they want, with no recriminations.
Ben asks lawyer Ian McKenzie (a brilliant performance by Marlon Brando) to help, but they lose the court case.
Ben decides he can’t live knowing that the police are corrupt, so with the help of driver Stanley Makhaya (Zakes Mokae), and journalist Susan Sarrandon, he tries to prove that the police murdered Gordon and his son.
This film was made and released at a time when South Africa was undergoing great political upheaval and regular demonstrations, and was initially banned by South African censors, who said it could harm President F. W. de Klerk’s attempts at apartheid reform. This ban was later lifted in September 1989, but it would be another 5 years before Nelson Mandela would become the president.
Although this is very much a film of its time, rather than it being ‘dated’ it’s a snapshot of filmmakers trying to show just how terrible is was (and still is) in SA.
A rare film for its time and certainly doesn’t pull any punches. The torture and murder scenes (despite the hammer horror blood) are stomach churning and I admit I gasped twice at what I was seeing.
I’m sure a lot of 20 year olds would be very offended by seeing this, but I believe they need to see it – to see what life was really like there.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- A Dry White Season Intro and Q&A (2019, 38 mins): director Euzhan Palcy talks to Lydia Ogwang following a 30th anniversary screening at the Toronto International Film Festival
- André Brink (1990, 19 mins): the author discusses his novel, the film adaptation and his own political awakening
- Jemima + Johnny (1966, 29 mins): a short film by South African activist and filmmaker Lionel Ngakane, featuring a cameo by Zakes Mokae
- The Burning (1968, 30 mins): Stephen Frears’ debut film depicts apartheid-era South Africa through the eyes of a young boy
- First pressing limited to 2,000 copies
- **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring a new essay on the film by Kevin Le Gendre and writing on Jemima + Johnny and The Burning by Ellen Cheshire
Review by Tina from a disc kindly supplied by the BFI.