A World Apart
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A World Apart
Plot
Cinematographer Chris Menges' first directorial effort, A World Apart was inspired by the lives of South African journalist Ruth First and her daughter Shawn Slovo (who wrote the film's screenplay). Barbara Hershey plays the fictional counterpart to Ms. First, Diana Roth, with Jodhi May as her daughter. Told from the daughter's viewpoint, the film shows us that Diana and her husband Jeroen Krabbe are so busy with their anti-Apartheid political activism that they totally shut May out of their lives. In 1963, Hershey is arrested by the South African police, becoming the first white woman to be held under the infamous 90-day-detention act. Left despondent and suicidal by two separate arrests and by constant harassment from the police, Diana still won't include her daughter in her life until the girl presses the issue in a climactic confrontation. Some critics felt that Shawn Slovo was using A World Apart to settle unresolved issues in her own life: Ruth First was killed under suspicious circumstances in 1982, without ever reconciling with her daughter. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
We've seen screen children neglected by parents preoccupied by essentially meaningless jobs or the pursuit of selfish aims (see American Beauty). But cinematographer Chris Menges's impressive debut offers a different take on that dynamic: the price the offspring of political activists pay for their parents' professional devotion. Barbara Hershey, excellent at playing single-minded women, is superb as Diana Roth, and 12-year-old Jodhi May, making her film debut, is a marvel as Molly Roth. (At the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, the actresses shared the Best Actress Award with Linda Mvusi, who plays Elsie, the Roth family maid.) This is mostly a mother-daughter story-Gus (Jeroen Krabbe) the father is not around enough to make an impression--and Diana is sensitive enough to sense the turbulence in her daughter's life. Shawn Slovo's autobiographical script is sympathetic to Molly's dilemma without turning her into a martyr; Molly is just mature enough to understand that the anti-Apartheid cause needs committed people like her parents, but she is after all, a budding adolescent, with all the self-imposed angst that comes with that territory. ~ Tom Wiener, RoviCast
- Barbara Hershey - Diana Roth
- Jodhi May - Molly Roth
- Jeroen Krabbé - Gus Roth
- David Suchet - Muller
- Paul Freeman - Kruger
Credit
Shawn Slovo - Associate Producer, Susie Figgis - Casting, Nic Ede - Costume Designer, Guy Travers - First Assistant Director, Chris Menges - Director, Nicolas Gaster - Editor, Tim Bevan - Executive Producer, Graham Bradstreet - Executive Producer, Hans Zimmer - Composer (Music Score), Dave Appell - Songwriter, Gimbel - Songwriter, Jean-Loup Hubert - Songwriter, Hubert Ithier - Songwriter, Karl Mann - Songwriter, Marquina-Narro - Songwriter, Marquina-Tallada - Songwriter, Antonio Molina - Songwriter, Moraes - Songwriter, Anna Ruiz - Songwriter, E.M. Sontonga - Songwriter, Elaine Carew - Makeup, Maureen Stevenson - Makeup, Brian Morris - Production Designer, Michael Phillips - Production Designer, Peter Biziou - Cinematographer, Tim Bevan - Producer, Sarah Radclyffe - Producer, Graham Bradstreet - Producer, Judy Freeman - Sound/Sound Designer, Shawn Slovo - Screenwriter, Antonio Carlos Jobim - Featured Music| A Working Mom (2006 Film), A Wopbopaloobop A Lopbamboom (1990 Film) | |
| A World At Waste (Film), A World Without Thieves (2004 Film) |
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A World Apart
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A World Apart (film)
| A World Apart | |
|---|---|
 A World Apart (Video Cover) |
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| Directed by | Chris Menges |
| Produced by | Sarah Radclyffe |
| Written by | Shawn Slovo |
| Starring | Jodhi May Barbara Hershey Jeroen Krabbé Tim Roth David Suchet |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
| Cinematography | Peter Biziou |
| Editing by | Nicholas Gaster |
| Distributed by | Atlantic Releasing Corporation |
| Release date(s) | June 17, 1988 |
| Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom / Zimbabwe |
| Language | English |
A World Apart is a 1988 anti-Apartheid drama, written by Shawn Slovo and directed by Chris Menges. 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 the movie was filmed. It features Hans Zimmer's first non-collaborative film score.
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Contents
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Plot summary
Set in Johannesburg in 1963, the film examines the abrupt ending of 13-year-old Molly's blithe childhood when her father, a communist and anti-Apartheid-activist, must go into exile and her mother must continue her fight against Apartheid without her husband. Avoided by her white ex-schoolfriends, Molly seeks greater closeness to her mother. The mother-daughter relationship faces a severe test due to intimidation attempts by the military police, then by Molly's mother's imprisonment. The "world apart" of the title refers to both the gap between the woman and the teenage girl--who doesn't understand why her mother is so obsessed by events beyond the comfortable white-suburban world--and the space between that world and that of the (black) majority. Essentially, the film is a tribute to Ruth First by her daughter and ends in a moment of epiphany as Molly comes to terms with her mother's political activism and understands that she too must play a part in the struggle to change South Africa.
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
- Nomaziko Zondo – Thandile
Reception
A World Apart has an overall approval rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.[1]
Awards and nominations
- 1989: Winner – BAFTA Best Screenplay Shawn Slowo
- 1989: Nominee – BAFTA Best Supporting Actor David Suchet
- 1988: Winner – 1988 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actress (tie): Jodhi May, Barbara Hershey, and Linda Mvusi[2]
- 1988: Nominee – Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm[2]
- 1988: Winner – Cannes Film Festival Special Grand Prize of the Jury: Chris Menges[2]
- 1988: Winner – Cannes Film Festival Price of the Ecumenical Jury: Chris Menges[2]
- 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
References
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/world_apart/. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ a b c d "Festival de Cannes: A World Apart". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/323/year/1988.html. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Repentance |
Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, Cannes 1988 |
Succeeded by Cinema Paradiso tied with Trop belle pour toi (award retitled Grand Prix du Jury) |
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