A good politician — as opposed to a dramatic revolutionary — is hard to find, but Nelson Mandela could safely be called one of the best living examples of that rare and precious category.
"Goodbye Bafana" highlights all the traits usually associated with Mandela's name: incredible courage and inner strength, integrity and charisma, staunch leadership in the face of adversity. The film however, is not a Mandela biopic — rather, it's based on the novel penned by his prison guard James Gregory.
Set in apartheid-entrenched South Africa in 1968, "Goodbye Bafana" traces the career and spiritual journey of the Afrikaner Gregory (played with a studious geekiness by Joseph Fiennes) and his family as they move from Pretoria to Robben Island, where Gregory had just been appointed warder of a maximum security prison for black political activists. The job is a step-up on the social ladder, and Gregory's wife, Gloria (Diane Kruger — whose regal beauty and radiant intelligence is perfect for the role), is ecstatic: Now they will be able to have a big house and social life.