That was an excellent one.

Good concept, poorly executed.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

If you are looking for a film which is based on true facts about Mandela's time in prison and about apartheid in South Africa, then this is the right film for you. The film is about the time Mandela spent in prison and the prison officer James Gregory. During the film James Gregory changes his attitude towards Nelson Mandela and the black people. Not everybody agrees with the changing attitude of James Gregory. Because of this change he gets into a lot of trouble. The main characters are played by Dennis Haysbert (Nelson Mandela), Joseph Fiennes (James Gregory) and Diane Kruger (Gloria Gregory). The actors are very convincing in their roles. So it is easier for the viewer to identify with them.In our opinion the film is a good film to inform the viewers about apartheid and the events around Nelson Mandela. In the film there were many long dialogues and less action, which sometimes made it a bit boring. But there are also some scenes which were very emotional for us. To sum it up, we can recommend this film because it is easy to understand. If we were asked to rate the film from zero to ten, we would give it seven points.

James Gregory, a South African man, chronicled his experiences as a soldier in a book about those the dark days of Apartheid, and its demise, when Nelson Mandela was freed after twenty seven years in prison. Bille August, the Danish film director decided to bring the story to the screen adapting the events that lead to the democratic government now in place.As a young boy, James Gregory's best friend was a black lad who knew about the difference between the races at a moment when the ruling white minority ruled the country in ruthless fashion. James went on to become a soldier who is sent to Robben Island where a lot of political prisoners, among them, Nelson Mandela was being held. The reason he was sent to the island was his understanding of the Xhosa dialect. Because of his knowledge he was supposed to report anything to the higher ups as the job had him censuring the prisoners' correspondence.At first James acts with complete disregard to the conditions in jail. A chance encounter with the star prisoner, made him reflect on what the dignified man himself, had to say. He is bowled over when he finds the manifesto that Mandela himself had written and was what was instrumental for landing him in jail. Gregory began to see how justice was applied to the blacks that were living in dismal conditions and forced to hard labor.As James Gregory begins to get a clear picture of what really is going on, he begins to feel the rejection of his fellow soldiers. They see in James a traitor who is now a threat to their way of life. James Gregory gave away many secrets that resulted in the assassination of a lot of the blacks that were considered communist terrorists, something that he lived to regret throughout his life.The film second half tells the story how two different men from such disparate backgrounds begin to respect one another as they bond because both see the real problem that have helped to create the racial injustice.Joseph Fiennes is seen as James Gregory. He ages throughout the narrative, something that is not totally convincing, but one has to make concessions when the same actor is asked to do this type of role. Dennis Haysbert makes a dignified and serene Nelson Mandela with his commanding voice and getting the inflections of this leader's speech. Diane Kruger plays the long suffering Gloria who is brought up in a segregated society, not realizing the injustice being committed to the population at large.

Nelson Mandela – this movie is about him, and that is the only factor that made to select this movie.But the story is not about Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) but about his prison guard James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes) who first serves as a prison guard (in 1968) for Mandela because he knows the African language Xhosa that Mandela and his comrades speak. He is transferred because he shows a soft corner for Mandela but due to international pressure is re-appointed in 1983 till the release of Mandela from prison.While seeing the movie one feels that what a great honor to have – serving contemporary history's most respected leaders as prison guard. Joseph Fiennes shows his range as an actor filling all ranges of age profile – being young and energetic to middle aged character. Dennis Haysbert portrays the role of his life time with gut, gutsy and tremendous respect and dignity – in being Nelson Mandela – an honor for an actor.The movie as rightly said by some critics is a history lesson of sorts. But please do not be mistaken by this comment. When I read that comment, I had two thoughts – whether I should go and see a history lesson? YES everyone who has a golden heart should see this movie. Every person who is by default has white skin should see this movie. It is simple, honest, and displays hidden prejudices of apartheid world that are prevalent even today in forms of class.As Mahatma Gandhi was called terrorist, so was Nelson Mandela was labeled a terrorist. He used arms struggle for making his point. He wanted the ruling British to talk with nationalist fighters – for peace. But British and their allied countries never agreed for a one-to-one dialogue and the mayhem of anarchy, atrocity and violence continued for more than half a century in peaceful and beautiful South African country. The local inhabitants were brutally killed by invaders who occupied most part of resources land claiming it to be their own mother land.My salute to Denmark Director Bille August who shows the apathy of human mind with everyday talks against terrorist – the same we talk today.I was fortunate to be part of the audience seeing this movie.(Stars 7.5 out of 10)

Nelson Mandela plays an important part in "Goodbye Bafana", but it is not a biography of Mandela. (There is, potentially, a great film to be made on that subject). Rather, it is an example of history seen through the eyes of an ordinary man who unexpectedly finds himself playing a significant role. James Gregory is a white South African prison guard. He grew up on a remote farm where his only companions of his own age were African boys, and as a result he learnt to speak fluent Xhosa. (The "Bafana" of the title was a friend of Gregory's during his childhood). This ability has made him useful to his superiors. He is transferred to Robben Island, the government's high-security prison for black political prisoners, where he is put in charge of censoring the prisoners' mail and monitoring their conversations with visitors to ensure that they do not discuss forbidden (i.e. political) topics. The film follows Gregory's career and his political development from the sixties to the end of apartheid in the early nineties. At the beginning of the film, he is portrayed as an enthusiastic supporter of the apartheid regime who believes in the superiority of the white race and who accepts racial discrimination as part of the natural order of things. As time goes on, however, his views start to change, partly as a result of the violence he sees directed by the South African police and security forces against the black population, partly because he has come to admire Mandela and the other Black political leaders. Whereas he once despised them as Communist terrorists, he now sees them as men fighting to right the injustices which their people have suffered. This shift in his political outlook makes Gregory unpopular with other white South Africans, especially his colleagues who regard him as a "kaffir lover", and even leads to strains in his marriage. Gregory's wife Gloria is more conservative than him in her unthinking support for apartheid. Her main concerns, however, are not with politics, but rather with furthering her husband's career, and cannot understand why he is putting his prospects at risk with his political stance. There is little in the way of action in this film- we hear about the "liberation struggle", but for the most part we do not see it. It is rather a film of ideas, with the most important drama being the one taking place inside Gregory's head. The problem is that Gregory's transformation from reactionary racist to enlightened liberal seems perhaps too predictable. There doubtless were white South Africans, including members of the prison service, who continued to hold unreconstructed white supremacist views up until the end of apartheid (and in some cases even beyond), but it is unlikely that a feature film would ever be made these days chronicling the life and opinions of such individuals, so we know from the outset that Gregory's views will undergo a complete change in the course of the film. Dennis Haysbert was very good in "Far from Heaven", but here as Mandela he seems less a living individual than an iconic symbol of dignity and nobility. The German actress Diane Kruger seemed miscast as Gloria. Although she seemed more at home with the English language than she did in "Troy", her accent often sounded more British than South African. (Joseph Fiennes's accent, by contrast, sounded very convincing to my non-South African ears). She also seemed too young in the latter part of the film, when Gloria is supposed to have aged nearly thirty years since the opening scenes. Despite these reservations, I enjoyed the film, mostly because of Fiennes's excellent performance as Gregory. He is a basically decent man trying to come to terms with the fact that the ideology to which he has committed himself is morally bankrupt and the political system which it supports is, in the long term, unsustainable. (Although the apartheid government had always stigmatised its opponents as "Communists", it is one of the ironies of history that in the eighties and early nineties the South African Nationalists and the Soviet Communists began to find themselves in similar positions. There must have been many basically decent Russians during the Gorbachev years who faced precisely the same dilemma as Gregory). The film's political stance may be a predictable one, and it may be telling a familiar story, but its message is one of hope and humanity. 7/10