Sarafina Film Review: Sarafina (1992)

Sarafina

Film Review: "Sarafina" (1992)

The film "Sarafina" is set in the Soweto provenience of 1970s South Africa. It depicts the suffering caused by apartheid and the racism of South African society. The title character is inspired to fearlessly fight against white oppression by her teacher Mary Masembuko, played by Whoopi Goldberg. Masembuko is arrested for preaching against apartheid in the classroom in a way that contracts the white-authored textbooks she must use and for hiding a machine gun for her husband who a member of the black resistance. Sarafina becomes involved when she agrees to hide the gun for her teacher, and is arrested as well, although she is later released. Sarafina's mother reproaches her for her actions, and Sarafina is continually torn throughout the film, between her loyalty to her teacher and her loyalty to her mother, and also between her friendship with a black police officer and her belief in the resistance, after the officer is killed by an angry mob of rioting students. Sarafina desires peace and freedom, but she lives in a world of war and oppression.

What is so unusual about "Sarafina" is that it is tries to be both an inspiring, foot-tapping musical and a drama that deals with a complex political subject. It contains horrific scenes of violence, including torture and immolation, interwoven with musical numbers. This is effective, on one hand, because it shows the importance and power of music in South African culture. However, the contrast of the beauty of music and the ugliness of the violence can be jarring.

The main theme of the film is that violence begets violence. The first image the viewer sees that of Sarafina's schoolmates burning down their school to protest apartheid and the white-generated lies they are forced to learn. This causes the government to send soldiers to suppress the student's resistance. The soldiers attack the students, spawning white on black violence, and even black on black violence. Thus, the intended audience of the film is somewhat difficult to determine. On one hand, "Sarafina" is not a purely educational film about apartheid, as the filmmakers seem to assume a certain basic familiarity with the issue on the part of the audience. The film is told from the black perspective, and clearly shows apartheid as evil. However, it also unsparingly shows the violent methods often used by the desperate black populace as well as the unjust actions of the government.

Furthermore, Sarafina's teacher is not particularly wise, as she foolishly offers to hide a gun, even though she knows she is likely to be caught. Therefore the film is not about the inspirational power of education. The film juxtaposes inspirational images of students engaging in political activism with images of violence that can be off-putting for a viewer, even if the viewer is aware of the suffering the children are enduring under apartheid. The film provides a perhaps unintentional and surprising education in the violence of the black community against one another, as well as shows the oppressive and violent actions of the white government.