A Life Most Ordinary

Country of My Skull (2004)

An interesting look at South African history. Its inetesting after all these years that people are finally taking a alook at African history. Perhaps my 11th grade english teacher was on to something. Its amazing to see how an "Afrikaner" a white from South Africa, can love the country and people she is from so much that she hopes that the autrocities of her people can be forgotten and forgiven in an effort to enhacne the country. Where as Samuel L. Jackson plays an "American" Reporter. This comment doesn't go over well with him as he claims to be an "African American"...raising the question in the movie...Who is more African? On one hand you have a born and raised south african of European descent and the other is an African American who has never lived a day of his life in Africa. Samuel L. draws from the pain of slavery and racism in the United States to draw his pain, but who's opinion is more valid.

Julliette Binoche plays the Afrikaner (Anna Malan) that sympathizes greatly with the strife of her countrymen. Her sound clips and reports evoke great emotion from the natives of her country as she shares the raw pain, emotion and sadness of the people. A people looking only for closure on the terrible things that had happened over the past 100 years.

Samuel L. Jackson plays the American reporter Langston Whitfield. The sensationalist reporting of Whitfield causes a rift between the two reporters, a rift that could only apparently be solved by sleeping together in one of the weakest parts of the movie. However its redeemed as the viewer is allowed to grow with Samuel L. Jackson from blaming and figer pointing and a story of genocide, into a story of a nation healing and people just trying to unify the country.