Touchstone and Beyond: "Sarafina!"
Marquee Attraction: Sarafina!
Release Date: September 25, 1992
Budget: $7 million
Domestic Box Office Gross: $7,306,242
Worldwide Box Office Gross: $7,309,989
Plot Synopsis
Sarafina is a student at Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto, South Africa. Her and her friends are all experiencing the pain and repression of Apartheid in their country, and it is through their conversations they come to learn how much they have been impacted by the unjust prejudicial law.
Their teacher Mary tries to guide them in their studies, and while she is not openly telling them to oppose the law, Mary offers the kids hope. She treats them as people and inspires them in their dreams. Of course, their dream is freedom.
The students rebel, question authority, attacking a policeman and killing him. This leads to days of unrest, and an attack at the school by the police. Rounded up and imprisoned, Sarafina and her friends are tortured for the names of associates. It is here that Sarafina learns that Ms. Mary has ‘killed’ herself.
Having been imprisoned, and released, Sarafina finds her mother, and thanks her for being the hard-working person she was. She thanks her mother for surviving. To Sarafina, the experience has taught her to cherish what she has, but she knows that freedom will come one day.
Standing Ovation
The music, choreography, and narrative blend well to create a moving collage of beauty. This is a film that is about some of the worst of humanity, and yet we see the joy and love that the students have, and their lives have meaning and soul because of the uniqueness of how the movie was made. It would be impossible to turn away from Sarafina!
Leleti Khumalo is outstanding as Sarafina. She has ninety minutes to portray a young eager student who transforms into a rebel and then shows the scars of brutality from her arrest. Khumalo holds the audience’s attention in every shot and makes the audience compelled to root for Sarafina and the students.
The cinematography is beautiful.
Time for the Hook
The fact that the violence was toned down to get a release in the USA is a shame. The story is one of violence, of repression and destabilization. Blacks in South Africa faced violence every day for generations. Violence in all forms is the foundation of this true story.
Bit Part Player
I never thought I would list the biggest star in this category, but Whoopi Goldberg’s Ms. Mary is a minor role in the story. Goldberg is at her best in the role, and her skills on the screen, as well as her name, is what makes Ms. Mary a notable bit part in a larger story.
Did You Know?
- The movie was nominated for two Image Awards including one for Whoopi Goldberg.
- The Political Film Society nominated the film for its Human Rights Award.
- This was composer Stanley Myer’s last scored film.
- Miramax’s deal with Disney to distribute the film came a year before the studio was purchased by Disney.
- Dumisani Dlamini, who played the role of Crocodile, is the father of rapper Doja Cat.
- Sarafina! started as a Broadway production in 1988 and ran for 597 performances.
- Goldberg reportedly used Disney’s desire to make a Sister Act sequel, as leverage to help get this film financed.
- On Laserdisc, (remember that), the exclusive director’s cut features fifteen minutes of footage that was not shown in theaters. This version of the film had more of the graphic scenes of violence that were removed before US distribution.
- Anant Singh acquired the rights to the Broadway production.
- By the time production of the film started Nelson Mandela was free from jail, and apartheid was on the way to being abolished.
- The film was shot on location in the Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto, South Africa. This was the school that was at the center of the student uprisings in Soweto in 1976.
- Whoopi Goldberg stated on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah that, around the time of the release of the film, the 1992 LA riots were taking place, and she feels that this event took away the focus from the film and harmed its North American success.
- The film's box office on its North American opening weekend was just over $76 thousand dollars.
- Since Paramount now owns Miramax as of 2020, the US rights to the film are owned by Paramount and not Disney.
Best Quotable Line
This comes from Preacher, “They fear you because you are young. They fear you because you are the future."
Bill’s Hot Take
I am not surprised the film was a box office disappointment in 1992. The box office was never going to embrace a film that was told from a primarily black perspective in South Africa.
Casting Call
- Whoopi Goldberg as Mary
- Miriam Makeba as Angelina
- John Kani as School Principal
- Mbongeni Ngema as Sabela
- Leleti Khumalo as Sarafina
Production Team:
Directed by Darrell James Roodt
Produced by Hollywood Pictures / Miramax Films
Written by Mbongeni Ngema / William Nicholson
My Critical Response
{Snub-Skip this Film, Lifeboat Award-Desperate for Something to Watch, Commuter Comforter-A Perfect Film for Any Device, Jaw Dropper- You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Rosebud Award- This Film is Cinema.}
I remember when this movie was released and was unsure of what to make of it. I never saw it. I was twelve and watching this movie at the box office in 1992 was not on my radar. Having watched it now, I am floored by the amazing scope of the film, and how such a brutal and deadly moment in the struggle for freedom in South Africa was shown on the screen.
Sarafina! is magical. The mixture of dance, song, and story propels the movie into a category of its own, and watching this film has made me want to learn more about what happened in South Africa.
Sarafina! is a masterpiece that is not to be missed. It deserves the Rosebud Award.
Coming Soon
Next week a look back at the romantic comedy Raising Helen.