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closeWednesday, Nov. 04, 2009
'Skin' details family's struggle in apartheid-era South Africa
Skin
****
PG-13 (thematic material, some violence and sexuality); 107 min.
To say that truth can be stranger than fiction may be a cliché, but there are times when it is startlingly accurate. Case in point: Sandra Laing, a girl born with dark skin to two white parents in apartheid-era South Africa.
Born in an isolated area to store-owner parents, little Sandra (Ella Ramangwane) at first sees no demarcation between her family and the shop’s black clientele. It’s not until she’s sent off to a white boarding school that the full force of South Africa’s system of racial separation comes down on her.
As an adult, Sandra (Sophie Okonedo) finds herself in racial, cultural and familial limbo as she becomes increasingly ensnared in the legal system and estranged from her family. Sandra even finds herself being described as something of a genetic throwback as it seems that her seemingly racially pure Afrikaner parents each might have had black lineage.
First-time features director Anthony Fabian doesn’t offer anything stylish, but since he’s dealing with an engrossing story and a strong performance from Okonedo, he doesn’t really need to. By the end, the incredulity stems not from the fact that this happened but that the wider world didn’t know about it before now.
Exclusive: Landmark Inwood
— Cary Darling
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