A World Apart (film)
| A World Apart | |
|---|---|
 A World Apart (Video Cover) | |
| Directed by | Chris Menges |
| Written by | Shawn Slovo |
| Produced by | Sarah Radclyffe |
| Starring | Jodhi May Barbara Hershey Jeroen Krabbe Tim Roth David Suchet |
| Cinematography | Peter Biziou |
| Edited by | Nicholas Gaster |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
| Distributed by | Atlantic Releasing Corporation |
Release date | June 17 1988 |
Running time | 113 min. |
| Countries | UK Zimbabwe |
| Language | English |
A World Apart is a 1988 anti-Apartheid drama, written by Shawn Slovo and directed by Chris Menges. It is based on the lives of Slovo's parents, Ruth First and Joe Slovo. The film was a co-production between companies from the UK and Zimbabwe. It features Hans Zimmer's first non-collaborative film score.
Plot summary
Set in 1963, the film examines the abrupt ending of 13-year-old Molly's blithe childhood when her father, a communist and anti-Apartheid-activist, must go into exile and her mother must continue her fight against Apartheid without her husband. Molly is avoided by her white ex-schoolfriends and so she seeks greater closeness to her mother. Due to the attempts at intimidation of the military police and the imprisonment of Molly's mother, the relationship of mother and daughter faces a severe test. The "world apart" of the title refers both to the gap between the woman and the teenage girl - who doesn't understand why her mother is so obsessed by events beyond the comfortable world of the white suburbs - and the space between that world and that of the (black) majority. Essentially, the film is a tribute to Ruth First by her daughter and ends in a moment of epiphany as Molly comes to terms with her mother's political activism and understands that she too must play a part in the struggle to change South Africa.
Cast
- Jodhi May - Molly Roth
- Jeroen Krabbé - Gus Roth
- Barbara Hershey - Diana Roth
- Kate Fitzpatrick - June Abelson
- Tim Roth - Harold
- Yvonne Bryceland - Bertha
- Paul Freeman - Kruger
- Rosalie Crutchley - Mrs. Harris
- Adrian Dunbar - Le Roux
- David Suchet - Muller
Awards and nominations
- 1989: Winner - BAFTA Best Screenplay Shawn Slowo
- 1989: Nominee - BAFTA Best Supporting Actor David Suchet
- 1988: Winner - Cannes Film Festival Best Actress (tie): Jodhi May, Barbara Hershey, and Linda Mvusi
- 1988: Nominee - Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm
- 1988: Winner - Cannes Film Festival Special Grand Prize of the Jury: Chris Menges
- 1988: Winner - Cannes Film Festival Price of the Ecumenical Jury: Chris Menges
- 1988: Winner - Evening Standard British Film Award Jodhi May - Most Promising Newcomer
- 1989: Nominee - Independent Spirit Award Best Foreign Film
- 1988: Winner - New York Film Critics Circle Awards Chris Menges - Best Director
