Skin (Anthony Fabian 2008): S. Africa / USA

Reviewed by Jesse Solomon. Viewed at the 2009 Santa Barbara Film Festival.

skinIf you thought growing up was hard, then you better take a look at Sandra Laing’s life, because suddenly you won’t feel so bad. Anthony Fabian’s Skin is based on the life of Sandra Laing, a black child born to two Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid. As you can imagine, life was not easy for young Sandra, played by Sophie Okonedo, and as time goes on her strive for racial identity grows more and more.

The Laing’s live a secluded life in the countryside and rarely encounter racial prejudice, but when time comes for Sandra to begin school like her older white-skinned brother, Leon (Hannes Brummer) the trouble starts. During this time blacks are not even allowed to look at a white person, and definitely not share the same boarding school bunk. Sandra is quickly thrown out of school and the war begins as her righteous father (Sam Neill) fights the federal government. Surprisingly enough, he succeeds in helping the passage of a law that says that a child is inherently the same race as its parents, no matter what it looks like. Sandra gets tremendous media attention (which definitely does not help with her shy nature) and she is allowed back into school and university with her father’s help. However, when she begins to mature her father cannot do anything to change how she looks or feels. When it is time for arranged dating, she is bullied and marveled at by all white suitors. The only person that seems to understand her is the young strapping produce man. No one can help love, and Sandra eventually must abandon her family for a new black family who live a simple yet joyous life.

This movie is a heartbreaking tale about trying to be true to yourself and sometimes having to leave a piece of yourself behind in order to accomplish your own goals. Sophie Okonedo was absolutely amazing in this role; her facial expressions alone were so heart wrenching that you didn’t need dialogue with her character. For such a beautiful woman she looked so sad and hurt for the majority of the movie, breaking your heart at times. This film’s message was definitely one to be noted: being true to yourself is the only way to find happiness, you can’t change who you are on the inside.

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Published:
01.29.09 / 5pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2009