Originally published November 5, 2009 at 3:02 PM | Page modified November 5, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Movie review
'Skin': A very personal story of the tragedy of apartheid
"Skin," a fact-based story about a South African woman who was born with black skin to white parents, chronicles her lifelong struggle living between two cultures in the age of apartheid.
Special to The Seattle Times
'Skin,' with Sophie Okonedo, Ella Ramangwane, Sam Neill, Alice Krige. Directed by Anthony Fabian, from a screenplay by Helen Crawley, Jessie Keyt and Helena Kriel. 107 minutes. Rated PG-13 for thematic material, some violence and sexuality. Seven Gables.
"Skin" is a moving and smartly made account of a truly peculiar episode from the period of apartheid that existed as national policy in South Africa until just 15 years ago.
Born in 1955 to white Afrikaner parents, Sandra Laing had the features and skin pigmentation of a black person — the result of a genetic anomaly. She spent her life adrift between viciously segregated cultures. She was alternately treated with love, cruelty, acceptance and ambivalence by her family and society.
We meet the 10-year-old Sandra (Ella Ramangwane) just as she's off to boarding school. Neither she nor her adoring parents, Abraham and Saanie (Sam Neill and Alice Krige), have ever thought of her as anything but a treasured child who's as white as their older son, Leon (Hannes Brummer). Crashing into harsh reality during her brief, spiteful experience with teachers, administrators and other students, Sandra is cast out of the whites-only school. This infuriates Abraham and sets off a constitutional battle that ultimately upholds Sandra's racial status but does nothing to alter her place in the world.
Part of the painful irony that haunts Sandra her whole life is the fact that her devoted father is such a fierce nationalist with unwavering racist attitudes (Neill sometimes overplays the love/hate thing). Sandra's decision to live her life as a black woman ultimately leads to her banishment from the family.
The delightfully versatile Sophie Okonedo takes over as Sandra during the '70s, '80s and '90s. She gives a richly understated performance that covers much hardship, tempered only by the fleeting joys of a loving husband, two children and a much-too-late rapprochement with her elderly mother.
Though sometimes overly melodramatic, "Skin" is elevated by its swift narrative and consummate period details. It's a remarkable chronicle of personal struggle that carries equal parts moral and emotional weight.
Ted Fry: tedfry@hotmail.com
E-mail article
Print view
Share
'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
Director John Woo's 'Red Cliff' is an epic whose time has come
An epic revival for 'Gone With the Wind'
At a Theater Near You: Polish, Italian festivals lead weekend's films
Movie review: Bella + Edward + Jacob = a pale 'New Moon'
![]()
Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- Black Friday Sale at Julep
- Sur La Table November sale
- Pitch Black Weekend Sale at Mapel
- Black Friday Sale at Merge
editors' picks
More shopping guides- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
148 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
132 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
129 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
124 - Illegal workers quietly let go
111 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
102 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
90 - Game thread
70 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
69 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
58
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village



