A Dry White Season

It took the cause and message of A Dry White Season for Marlon Brando to leave his self-imposed exile in Tahiti to come back to the screen, albeit in a small supporting role. Still the cause was one of the... Full review

i saw this movie when i got bored of football, did not know what it was about. then the truth of aparthaid dawned, the movie's story is pathbreaking in showing the truth of oppression by the white people.this movie has to... Full review

For many years the government of South Africa carried on it's secret, grizzly business of imprisonment, torture and murder. Hundreds and then thousands of black South Africans were detained, arrested, beaten to death causing the numerous unofficial grave sites to... Full review

This movie explores apartheid and the monstrous injustices perpetrated against non-white South Africans by that system from the perspective of Ben du Toit (Donald Sutherland), a well-respected history teacher of Afrikaans heritage (white South Africans are primarily Afrikaans (of Dutch descent)... Full review

Apartheid gripped South Africa for many years. One heard the news with total disbelief, as things got worse in that country. Euzhan Palcy has brought Andre Brink's novel to the screen making a statement along the way about what was... Full review

If you want to understand what the old South Africa could be like at its worst, this movie accurately portrays it. Well acted and only slightly over-dramatized, it gives you the sense of how the ruling culture was blind to... Full review

Euzhan Palcy is a great director. She has broken many barriers for Black Female Filmmakers. Most of her work has been political with strong impact, as this film is. Never before have we seen such a story told through the... Full review

I believe this to be one of Marlon Brando's most underrated performances. The film itself is a splendid period piece of Apartheid South Africa. I rarely see this movie mentioned in biographical comment with regard to Brando's career, and yet,... Full review

Donald Sutherland (one of Hollywood's most undervalued actors) is simply brilliant in this quiet and thought-provoking films. Many black people do not like to see white heroes in films about apartheid or racism. But the truth is, there are many... Full review

Having just seen it on the TV again after a number of years it is a stark reminder of the terror imposed on the black population by the security apparatus of S. Africa during the years of Apartheid.The part with... Full review

FINAL THOUGHTS: A powerful film that maybe doesn't go as far as it could have, A Dry White Season is notable for its many excellent performances, its gripping story and its attempt to shine a light at a monstrous injustice. But for the most part it's a good looking film. ... Full Review

Euzhan Palcy, a remarkable talent, has kept her undeniably powerful film ablaze with ferocity and feeling. Brando wisely plays against the scene's high emotion. Building the role slowly, with compassion and cunning wit, Brando is sensational. ... Full Review

It's fun to watch, but not in the context of "A Dry White Season. Unfortunately, the film lacks a certain punch, a power that one might reasonably expect to sweep the audience away. ... Full Review

They're one-dimensional, but evil is a pretty fun dimension for actors. Brando gives his small role the attention and accent it deserves, unlike Susan Sarandon's liberal reporter Melanie Bruwer, who covers the trial and later helps Sutherland with a paper-chase expose'. ... Full Review

Newly released on DVD, albeit without any special features, A Dry White Season is an honorable film that's only intermittently powerful. A finely acted but rather stolid drama set in Apartheid-era South Africa, A Dry White Season (1989 ... Full Review

When you are safe and well-off, and life has fallen into a soothing routine, there is a tendency to look the other way when trouble happens - especially if it hasn't happened to you. ... Full Article

Schoolteacher Ben du Toit (Donald Sutherland) has been insulated all his life from the horrors of apartheid in his native South Africa. Perhaps he really didn't want to know. ... Full Article