Skin

Phew. Almost done. Boy, TIFF-goers are hard core. Honestly. Saturday morning for a movie. Yeeesh.
Anyway, here's the write-up about the movie from the TIFF website:

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In 1955, Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo) was born to two white Afrikaner parents in rural South Africa. But thanks to a genetic throwback, her skin was dark and her hair tightly curled. The government's rigid apartheid system was faced with a serious dilemma. Should Sandra be classified as white or black? For Sandra and her family, the complications ran far deeper.

Anthony Fabian's Skin follows Sandra as she grows up in a society where colour decides everything. She is granted admission to an all-white school, but suffers daily torment from her classmates. Her father Abraham (Sam Neill) is no more liberal than any other rural Afrikaner of his time; he can barely accept his daughter's dark features, let alone the neighbours' constant gossip. Even after tests establish that Abraham is in fact Sandra's biological father, the plain fact of her difference complicates life. Only her mother (Alice Krige) offers real emotional support, but it comes at a great price to both mother and daughter.

Skin's premise can feel like science fiction, so bizarre are the rules that buffet Sandra from identity to identity. She fails apartheid's infamous “pencil test,” during which a pencil is passed through her hair to see if it sticks. But her parents refuse to have her reclassified as black, fighting for what they see as Sandra's birthright – the right to live as a white woman.

Krige and Neill turn in terrific performances in this compelling, beautifully composed drama. Neill has always excelled at playing quiet, coiled rage, and here he conveys all the complex emotions of a man torn between his traditional values and the need to stand up for his daughter. And Krige is a marvel, her character's commitment to her daughter playing out in a precise, detailed performance.

As Sandra grows up and falls in love with a black man, Okonedo reveals the full spectrum of her character: the childhood hurt, the uncertain identities and, in time, her pride as an African woman.

Cameron Bailey
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It's crazy because it's based on a real story.
Anyway, the movie was fantastic. I think it's perfect for a big screen release. At the time of the screening they hadn't been picked up yet, but even with the subject matter it's seems quite appropriate for a theatre. There's one scene which I found difficult to watch, but not to the extent that it would restrict it from the big time. Even with the touchy subject matter, I think it's fine. There are other films that have been released that have topics just as touchy, if not more so.
Anthony Fabian (the director) was there for a Q&A and said that the premiere was actually held at Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls. To be a fly on the wall of that event - amazing.
Race is a touchy issue, so I may seem like I'm not getting into the nitty gritty of the movie, but I just don't want to go there.
Cinematically, the movie wasn't a big breakthrough. To me, the movie shone in the storyline, subject matter and the performances by the cast. There was a short snippet telling the lead up to the events and a final blurb telling of follow-up information so the movie felt complete. The director said that facts were changed for the film to give it a chance to focus on some of the themes that he thought were more pertinent.
Yep, I liked this movie and hope that many more will have a chance to see it in the future.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff08.ca