I like message movies, from "China Syndrome" to "Missing" to "Lions for Lambs". I'm a big fan of Michael Moore, and I am on the lookout for educating myself the easy way, being quite lazy. Of course, I don't usually buy these movies, because once is enough, though I own the three movies above plus a couple of Moore's. But a several years ago I picked up a movie I hadn't heard of, "Red Dust", solely because Edjofor Chitewel and Hilary Swank were in it. I was very pleasantly surprised. Swank plays a South African woman who left as a teenager for New York and has never been back until now, when as a lawyer she has been asked to participate in the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She was poor white trash as a child and was imprisoned overnight as a teenager for being caught dating a Black. Her bitterness is deep and wide, and she hates the emotions coming back by returning. Though she doesn't state it, you can see she is hoping to bring justice to her boyfriend who was killed in jail and some closure to herself as well. Chitewel plays a political prisoner, who after his torture and release (and the death of his best friend before his eyes while they are in jail) has also left the country but returns to help his friend's parents find the body of their son. His return brings flashbacks, and he has no faith in the Commission or justice at all.
The film is honest, and the ending has some closure but is disturbing as well. Watching, I felt ambivalence about the Commission, as it grants pardon to those who confess, and thus they never face prison. And yet, the process is clearly healing to many, and at least gets some of the atrocities into the light of day. Swank and Chitewel are terrific, as is the rest of the cast, and the sense of place evoked is powerful. Whatever you think at the end, you understand the purpose and function of the Commission much better, and the people there come alive and are unforgettable. It's quite a lovely film.
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