A World Apart (film)

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A World Apart
A World Apart.jpg
Movie Poster
Directed byChris Menges
Produced bySarah Radclyffe
Written byShawn Slovo
Music byHans Zimmer
CinematographyPeter Biziou
Edited byNicholas Gaster
Distributed byAtlantic Releasing Corporation
Release date
17 June 1988
Running time
113 minutes
CountryZimbabwe/UK
LanguageEnglish

A World Apart is a 1988 anti-apartheid drama film and directed by Chris Menges and starring Barbara Hershey, David Suchet, Jeroen Krabbé, Paul Freeman, Tim Roth, and Jodhi May. Written by Shawn Slovo, it is based on the lives of Slovo's parents, Ruth First and Joe Slovo. The film was a co-production between companies from the UK and Zimbabwe, where it was filmed. It features Hans Zimmer's first non-collaborative film score.

Plot

Set in Johannesburg in 1963, the film examines the abrupt ending of 13-year-old Molly's blithe childhood when her father, a member of the South African Communist Party, flees into exile. Ostracised by her peers, Molly draws closer to her mother who is part of the campaign against apartheid. Their relationship is challenged by hardship, political intimidation, and the mother's eventual arrest.

The film title references both the gap between the mother and her teenage girl, who fails to grasp why their family is so fixated with events beyond their comfortable white suburb, and another separating this world from that of South Africa's poverty-stricken black townships.

Essentially, the film is a tribute to Ruth First by her daughter and concludes in a moment of epiphany as Molly comes to terms with her mother's activism and understands that she too must play a part in the struggle against racial injustice.

Cast

  • Jodhi May – Molly Roth
  • Jeroen Krabbé – Gus Roth
  • Barbara Hershey – Diana Roth
  • Linda Mvusi – Elsie
  • Nadine Chalmers – Yvonne Abelson
  • Kate Fitzpatrick – June Abelson
  • Tim Roth – Harold
  • Carolyn Clayton-Cragg – Myriam Roth
  • Yvonne Bryceland – Bertha
  • Merav Gruer – Jude Roth
  • Paul Freeman – Kruger
  • Rosalie Crutchley – Mrs. Harris
  • Adrian Dunbar – Le Roux
  • David Suchet – Muller
  • Jude Akuwudike – Priest
  • Nomaziko Zondo – Thandile

Reception

A World Apart has an overall approval rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes from 9 critics.

The film was placed on 40 critics' top ten lists, making it one of the most acclaimed films of 1988.

Awards and Nominations

  • 1989: Winner – BAFTA Best Screenplay Shawn Slovo
  • 1989: Nominee – BAFTA Best Supporting Actor David Suchet
  • 1988: Winner – 1988 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actress (tie): Jodhi May, Barbara Hershey, and Linda Mvusi
  • 1988: Nominee – Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm
  • 1988: Winner – Cannes Film Festival Special Grand Prize of the Jury: Chris Menges
  • 1988: Winner – Cannes Film Festival Price of the Ecumenical Jury: Chris Menges
  • 1988: Winner – Evening Standard British Film Award Jodhi May – Most Promising Newcomer
  • 1989: Nominee – Independent Spirit Award Best Foreign Film
  • 1988: Winner – New York Film Critics Circle Awards Chris Menges – Best Director
  • 1989: Winner - Best Foreign Language Film, 25th Guldbagge Awards (Sweden)



References

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