Touches You

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This story about a dark-skinned girl born to white Afrikaners during the apartheid era will come as a revelation to anyone who has forgotten what South Africa was like before the transformation brought about by Nelson Mandela and his colleagues. Not that South Africa is out of the jungle of racial conflict; it certainly isn't. But one hopes that the fate inflicted on Sandra Liang because of her color could happen today. The story is gripping. The direction and the photography are efficient. The two best known actors in this film, Sophie Okenado ( Rawanda) and Sam Neill, are excellent as the adult Sandra and her Afrikaner father. But other unfamiliar players are also very good

This movie is based on a real person and her true story. However the end credits points out that some characters and some situations were created for dramatic effect, that's the way movies are made. But I will assume most of it is accurate.Sophie Okonedo is the adult Sandra Laing who, in 1955, was born during the period of apartheid in South Africa. The official teaching of the white South Africans, the Afrikans, was that white and black people were "different" and they should be kept apart. Apartheid.This is important for this story because Sandra's parents were both white Afrikans, but Sandra was brown with black, kinky hair. Her skin was not as dark as the usual black but clearly in looks more black than white.Although her parents and brother treated her and loved her all the same, this created many problems for Sandra growing up, starting with boarding school where the other students and even the faculty looked at her as black, and treated her that way. When she was a teen, desperate for acceptance and love, she met and ran off with a black man, which was strictly illegal since her parents had her officially classified by the government as "white". Plus her unyielding father rejected her, he so strongly upheld the ideals of apartheid.South African actress Alice Krige is the mother, Sannie Laing. The Irish and New Zealander Sam Neill of Jurassic Park fame is the dad, Abraham Laing.Very good movie, both for the quality of the story, and also for its significance for that period in history. All actors are superb. Saw it on Netflix streaming.

Too few of us realize the atrocities of Apartheid, a social and political policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by white minority governments in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. 'The term apartheid (from the Afrikaans word for "apartness") was coined in the 1930s and used as a political slogan of the National Party in the early 1940s, but the policy itself extends back to the beginning of white settlement in South Africa in 1652. After the primarily Afrikaner Nationalists came to power in 1948, the social custom of apartheid was systematized under law. The implementation of the policy, later referred to as "separate development," was made possible by the Population Registration Act of 1950, which put all South Africans into three racial categories: Bantu (black African), white, or Coloured (of mixed race).' Yes, everyone knows the story of Nelson Mandela and the end of Apartheid, but too few of us recognize the appalling effects of that system on the peoples of South Africa. This true story should alter that and perhaps bring a higher degree of respect for those who survived that ugly system. Based on the book 'When She Was White' by Judith Stone, Anthony Fabian wrote the story (with Helen Crawley, Jessie Keyt and Helena Kriel) and directs this terrifying but ultimately triumphant film - a story we shall not soon forget. Abraham and Lannie Laing (Sam Neill and Alice Krige) are Afrikaans who live and work their general store in the countryside with their two children Sandra (Ella Ramangwane as the young Sandra and Sphie Okenedo as the mature Sandra) and Henry. The Laings have sequestered themselves because their daughter appears black. Abraham constantly defends the 'whiteness' of his daughter at every level of the government and finally the Laings obtain admission to private white school for Sandra and Henry. The school quickly dismisses Sandra because she 'is black', is beaten by teachers, and the school calls in doctors and other government support to back their opinion. But through the tireless efforts of Abraham he finally gets a certification of Sandra's 'whiteness'. Sandra faces intolerance from the community but finds solace in the attention of a 'kaffir', Petrus Zwane (Tony Kgoroge) and in time the frustrated Sandra accepts the warmth of Petrus and they fall in love. Abraham is furious and casts Sandra out of his home: Sandra and Petrus move into a black village and have babies until the whites demand the land on which the blacks are living and destroy Sandra and Petrus's home. Petrus turns to drink and blames his loss of all his goods on marrying a 'white girl': Sandra and her now three children move to Johannesburg to find safety and employment, having been rejected by Sandra's parents. When the Apartheid is banished Sandra becomes a spokesperson for her people and her country because she 'never gave up'. In this history of the Apartheid the impact is made so very much stronger by the fact that the film shows both sides of the struggle - from the white viewpoint and the black viewpoint. Sandra's father may have fought against the prejudice but when his daughter accepts being black, he is as raw and prejudiced as the rest of the whites. Sandra's mother (played with compassion by Alice Krige) maintains her love and support of her beloved daughter but by societal demands she must bow to her husband's wishes. As Sandra Sophie Okenedo shines in a performance that is brilliantly three dimensional - she is an enormously gifted actress. The entire large cast is excellent, recreating a period in history we can only hope will never happen again. This is a wholly satisfying film. Grady Harp

This is a great film that is based on the true story of Sandra Liang in South Africa. Sandra, who has dark skin, was born to two white parents in the heat of the apartheid. She struggles to define herself against the classifications of society. Her dad, who is racist, causes strain on her own self discovery, and strains her relationship with her mother as well. The film chronicles her adventures at an all white school, as well as her marriage to a black man, although she is "white". Her journey is intriguing. The film itself makes you question the race-labeling system.It is a great film that will raise questions and spark intriguing debates on what it means to be black.