A Dry White Season (1989) on Netflix
In 1976 South Africa, Ben Du Toit teaches at a whites-only school. When his gardener is taken into police custody, Ben starts asking questions his wife and daughter want left alone.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.0/106,974 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes81%
Trailer
Plot summary
South Africa is in the middle of the Soweto uprising in 1976, under the apartheid system. Ben Du Toit teaches at a whites-only school. His gardener, Gordon Ngubene, asks him for help after police beat Gordon's son at a demonstration calling for a better education policy for black students. Ben's son and Gordon's son know each other. Ben refuses, placing his trust in the police to handle the matter. Gordon is then taken into custody himself and tortured by Captain Stolz. Ben's wife Susan and his daughter Suzette are against it, but he begins looking into what became of his gardener.
Cast
- Rowen Elmesas Johan du Toit
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Dry White Season (1989)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- South African censors initially banned A Dry White Season, saying it could harm President F. W. de Klerk's attempts at apartheid reform; the ban was lifted in September 1989 and the film was screened at the Weekly Mail Film Festival in Johannesburg.
- Marlon Brando came out of a self-imposed retirement to play human rights lawyer Ian McKenzie, moved by director Euzhan Palcy's commitment to social change, and agreed to work for union scale of $4,000, far below his usual fee.
- Director Euzhan Palcy traveled to Soweto undercover, posing as a recording artist, to research the riots for an accurate portrayal of South Africa.
- Euzhan Palcy became the first female director and the first black director to direct Marlon Brando, in the apartheid drama A Dry White Season.
- The soundtrack CD fails to mention contributing musicians including Hugh Masekela and omits all three Ladysmith Black Mambazo songs, written by Joseph Tshabalala, that were used prominently in the film.
