Winnie Mandela (FILM REVIEW)
Winnie
Mandela
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Jennifer Hudson Portrays Infamous Political Icon in
Warts-and-All Biopic
Winnie
Mandela (Jennifer Hudson) is a controversial figure in the annals of South African
history. For not only was she the first wife of freedom
fighter-turned-President Nelson Mandela (Terrence Howard), but she was also convicted
of ordering numerous human rights violations.
At the
height of the anti-apartheid movement, she headed a goon squad which doled out
street justice to blacks suspected of collaborating with the white
establishment. With Winnie’s blessing, snitches would be sentenced to death by
necklace, meaning by having a gasoline-soaked tire placed on their shoulders and
set on fire.
And after
the fall of Apartheid, she confessed before the country Truth and
Reconciliation commission to “the murder, torture, abduction and assault of
numerous men, women and children.” So, it’s understandably hard to put a sympathetic
spin on such an infamous political figure.
That is the
challenge tackled by director Darrell Roodt in Winnie Mandela, a warts-and-all
biopic which focuses on its subject’s childhood, college days and marriage
while making short shrift of her transition into a war criminal. Along the way,
we learn that she was a headstrong tomboy who blossomed into the irresistible
beauty that Nelson fell in love with at first sight.
Sadly, the
two were separated for 27 years while he was imprisoned on Robben Island
for treason because of his call for an end to Apartheid. And perhaps that was
what led Winnie to rationalize resorting to fighting the government and stool
pigeons by any means necessary.
As for the
acting, Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard do their best to adopt appropriate
accents, but they both sound fake since they’re surrounded by a cast comprised
of actual South Africans. The production’s most glaring flaw, nevertheless, is
that the poorly-scripted screenplay simply fails to give the audience much of a
reason to invest in unlikable Winnie’s life story.
Winnie
Mandela, less an honorable “Mother of the Nation,” than a disgraceful, “bad
mother-[shut your mouth]!”
Fair (1 star)
R for violence and profanity
Running time: 107 minutes
Studio: RLJ Entertainment
Distributor: Image
Entertainment
To see a trailer for Winnie
Mandela, visit:
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