Goodbye Bafana Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Yes, Nelson Mandela is still alive, despite what President Bush said (I know it was taken out of context). And now the previously announced Mandela biopic is also very much alive, and may even get a multiple Oscar-winner as its director. According to Variety, Clint Eastwood is interested in helming The Human Factor, an adaptation of the same-titled book by John Carlin (with subtitle: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed the World). The film won't actually be a full biopic, though; instead, it focuses on the former President of South Africa post-imprisonment, on the eve of apartheid's end. It also deals with the 1995 Rugby World Cup and how it aided in the post-apartheid healing of South Africa. The adaptation has been scripted by South African screenwriter Anthony Peckham (Don't Say a Word).

We've already learned that Mandela will be portrayed by Morgan Freeman (perfect choice), who will also be producing with his company Revelations Entertainment (10 Items or Less). Now possibly joining Freeman on screen is Matt Damon, who is in talks to play the captain of rugby team the Springboks. Although both Freeman and Damon contributed to the 3D IMAX documentary Magnificent Desolation, the two have never acted together. Freeman and Eastwood, though, have collaborated a few times, and it was due to working with the actor-director on Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby that Freeman reportedly requested Eastwood's filmmaking talents for this project. My guess is that Eastwood appreciates the opportunity, as it sounds like something that will garner him yet another Oscar nomination. However, it won't be the director's next film; that has already been announced as The Changeling, with Angelina Jolie.

For those looking for a Mandela movie in the meantime, perhaps someone will finally pick up U.S. distribution rights to Bille August's new film, Goodbye Bafana, which features Dennis Haysbert as the iconic prisoner-turned-leader. Erik caught the pic in Berlin earlier this year and called it, "a perfect movie -- one that gets it all right," and it is very surprising that there's no plans yet to release the film here. Perhaps someone is waiting until they can pit it against The Human Factor, in order to fulfill the new Hollywood law that all biopics must have a dueling competitor.

Though it's still early in the festival and I have yet to see a few of the films in competition, I feel pretty confident in saying Goodbye Bafana will win the Golden Bear award this year. Every once in a blue moon you stumble across a perfect movie -- one that gets it all right -- and flows slow smoothly from start to finish, you almost wish it could go on and on ... and on. This year, in Berlin, Goodbye Bafana is that film. Not only is it an important real-life film based on two important men, but it's sincere, emotional and inspirational -- to a point where you just want to reach out and give Joseph Fiennes a hug, he's that believable. Pic, which is primarily set on Robbin Island, a prison off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, begins in 1963 and spans 27 years. But, unlike La Vie en rose (which confused the audience with its jumping here, there and everywhere), Goodbye Bafana gracefully and seamlessly fades from one year to the next ... with each moment in time becoming increasingly more significant.

Story documents 27 years in the life of James Gregory (Fiennes), a prison guard looking for a way to move up the ranks during one of the most critical times in his country's history. With two young children and a wife to support, Gregory lands a job where is to take charge of the censorship office on Robbin Island -- a position that could easily lead to a promotion or two -- seeing as one of his main responsibilities is to look after South Africa's most feared terrorist, Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert). Gregory, a severe racist (not because he chooses to be, but because he has to be), is to inspect all incoming and outgoing mail, while keeping an eye on Mandela and his cohorts. Because Gregory grew up on a farm, in which he was best friends with a black boy named Bafana, he knows how to speak Mandela's African dialect and proves useful in that he can play spy for the higher-ups.

Continuing the long string of real-life inspired films that have been rolling into theaters recently, Danish director Bille August is set to direct a movie about Nelson Mandela's relationship with the white prison guard who was his personal warden during Mandela's long incarceration on Robben Island. Entitled Goodbye Bafana, the film is based on a memoir of the same name by the guard, James Gregory (adapted for the screen by Greg Latter). 'Bafana Bafana' is the nickname by which the South African soccer team is known; one assumes the word 'Bafana' is a fond general reference to the country itself, but if someone knows for sure, please let us know in the comments.*

The multinational cast will be anchored by the wonderful Dennis Haysbert as Mandela, with Joseph Fiennes as his guard and German actress Diane Kruger in the role of Gregory's wife. Playing an icon like Mandela is an unimaginably huge responsibility - I can't even fathom the pressure that Haysbert must feel. He is, however, one of the must dignified, underrated screen presences we have right now (not to mention by far the best spokesman an insurance company has ever had); if anyone can do it, he's probably up to the task.

The film has a budget of about $25 million, and is expected to start shooting next month in South Africa.

*Thanks to Serena for clearing things up: "Eh, the name Bafana, in the context of this story, has nothing to do with football or the nation. This is supposed to be James Gregory's story, and when he was a kid he had a zulu friend named Bafana. When Mandela was released, Gregory embraced him and said, "goodbye, Bafana", recalling the friend from his childhood."

[via Dark Horizons]