Ben du toit is a convenient point of identification for a traditional hollywood audience who might have been unaware ofor. In 1976, in south africa during apartheid, ben du toit donald sutherland is a south african school teacher at a school for whites only. Ben du toit, a 50yearold afrikaaner history teacher, is enthusiastically cheering his son johan, a 15yearsold, who is leading neckandneck with another boy in the last leg of the race. A dry white season takes place mainly in johannesburg, where the afrikaner protagonist ben du toit lives, and soweto, where all of the black characters live.
Elzhan palcy 1989 107 ben du toit sutherland is a white history teacher who lives comfortably with his family in johannesburg. White schoolteacher ben du toit donald sutherland lives in johannesburg and remains blissfully incurious about the lives of his black countrymen until a wave of brutal treatment comes crashing down on his gardener winston ntshona, bringing du toit facetoface with harsh political realities. A dry white season is a political statement euzhan palcy. I dont want the one with the dark glasses, any of these kaffirs here ever again.
In andre brink s a dry white season, benjamin du toit s quest to discover what really happened to. Apr 14, 2011 a dry white season is a book that really shapes the fact about the prejudices against black people back in the 70s. Ben du toit, a schoolteacher, who always has considered himself a man of caring and justice, at least on the individual level. That is until an incident hits close to home which soon exposes him to the truly arbitrary and violent nature of the system he has so long benefited from. History teacher ben du toit donald sutherland, an afrikaner, lives a comfortable middleclass existence with wife susan janet suzman and their children in johannesburg in the 1970s. Robert bolt also contributed uncredited revisions of the screenplay.
No doubt theyll see they made a mistake and release him. A dry white season is political cinema so deeply felt it attains a moral grace. It shows how blacks were treated and how many lies that were involved. A polemic against south african apartheid, this may not meet criteria for great filmmaking, but director euzhan palcys film succeeds in being significant.
The excitement increases as they approach the tape. With donald sutherland, janet suzman, zakes mokae, jurgen prochnow. Ben du toit is a white schoolteacher in suburban johannesburg in a dark time of intolerance and statesanctioned. Unlike the narrator in rumours of rain, the generally selfseeking businessman martin mynhardt, this book concerns ben du toit, who from his student days has been an. Ben du toit is a school teacher who has always considered himself a caring and rightful man, at least on the individual level.
When his gardener, stanleys zakes mokaes son, jonathan bekhithemba mpofu, is brutally beaten up by the police at a demonstration by black school children, he gradually begins to realize his own society is built on a pillar of injustice and exploitation. I only wish that a dry white season were a better film, the film that filmmaker euzhan palcy is capable of making, the kind. A dry white season 1989 stream and watch online moviefone. Ben du toit hangs out in a club of white colleagues staffed by black servants and teaches at a whitesonly school. Benjamin du toit donald sutherland is an afrikaner history teacher. Novel for foreigners who want to understand the afrikaner. A dry white season rewrite by euzhan palcy may 1987. Ben du toit is a white schoolteacher rin suburban johannesburg in a dark time of intolerance and state sanctioned apartheid.
Biography of andre brink presentation of a dry white season summary of a dry white season character study ben du toit gordon ngubene emily ngubene susan du toit suzette stanley makhaya melanie bruwer phil bruwer stolz analysis of a dry white season the historical context a. When his gardeners son is brutally beaten up by the police during a demonstration by black schoolchildren, he starts to realize that his own society is built on a pillar of. Ben du toit is a white schoolteacher in suburban johannesburg in a dark time of intolerance and statesanctioned apartheid. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. It is sometimes horrifying and hard to take, although there also is considerable ironic humor in the clarence darrowlike trial tactics of the lawyer. A bitter medicine, a painful reminder, it grieves for south africa as it recounts the atrocities of apartheid.
A dry white season 1989 a dry white season 1989 user. In the novels foreward, ben du toit is dead, and his friend is in process of organizing ben s work in order to tell his story. A dry white season is a political statement euzhan palcy tiff. A dry white season directed by euzhan palcy school teacher ben du toit donald sutherland has been insulated all his life from the horrors of. Screenplay and movie script for a dry white season iskripts. School teacher ben du toit donald sutherland has been insulated all his life from the horrors of apartheid in his native south africa. Chris, her soninlaw, is at the barbecue, stinging his eyes. A dry white season bluray disc details highdef digest. History teacher ben du toit donald sutherland, an afrikaner, lives a. When his gardeners son is brutally beaten up by the police at a demonstration by black school children, he gradually begins to realize his society is built on a pillar of injustice and exploitation. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a dry white season. Major characters include ben du toit, susan du toit, stanley makhaya and captain stolz. A dry white season a wrenching picture about south africa that makes no expedient compromises with feelgood entertainment values, a dry white season displays riveting performances and visceral style. A dry white season is a 1989 american dramahistorical film directed by euzhan palcy and starring donald sutherland, jurgen prochnow, marlon brando, janet suzman, zakes mokae and susan sarandon.
The boys father, gordon winston ntshona, brings the boy to his employer, ben du toit donald sutherland a former rugby star turned teacher and asks him to do something. A dry white season follows south african schoolteacher ben du toit donald sutherland, who seeks justice for the murder of a black boy in this political. He seethes at the racial injustice around him, which is. A dry white season 1989 plot summary 3 a white middle class south african suburbanite with no interest in politics agrees to help his black gardener find his jailed son. A dry white season begins with one such protest where the black boy from the prelude is detained and caned by the police. Brinks protagonists, ben du toit, is a typical afrikaner a middleaged, married schoolteacher and father of three who accepts the apartheid system, who has never entertained a black in his. The truth, it turns out, does not matter because the truth threatens the system, and a dry white season is at its best in dramatizing in clear, humane terms how such a system oppresses and destroys basic humanity. Sep 20, 1989 although andre brinks novel, upon which the film is based, concentrates on ben du toit and his growing awareness of the plight of black south africans, a dry white season divides its.
The remainder of the novel is narrated by ben, speaking as though his friend has pieced his journals and writings together. As louise said, the book also shows us much about friendship, how important it actually is to stick up for your friends and not lie just to look good. White schoolteacher ben du toit donald sutherland lives in johannesburg and remains blissfully incurious about the lives of. A white middle class south african suburbanite with no interest in politics agrees to help his black gardener find his jailed son. A dry white season rewrite by euzhan palcy may 1987 revised first draft for educational purposes only in the whole world there is not a single. That is the question posed to ben du toit donald sutherland in the opening passages of a dry white season. Based at the height of apartheid in south africa, a dry white season tells the story of schoolteacher ben du toit. A dry white season by andre brink overdrive rakuten. A dry white season by rita kempley washington post staff writer september 22, 1989. Ben feels he has no place becoming involved in the racial tensions that are sweeping the nation, which result in the soweto. Get an answer for what role does ben du toit, in a dry white season, represent in the south african society under apartheid. Schoolteacher ben du toit donald sutherland has been insulated all his life from the horrors of apartheid in his native south africa. Zakes mokae, the cabbie, tells ben du toit to help if it makes you feel good.
Gordon ngubene winston ntshona is his loyal gardener of 15 years. A book about racial discrimination, and a white hero professor ben du toit fight for the rights and justice for the blacks, originally for his old friend, the janitor of the school, gordon, the proces. Dec 11, 2018 sharing in this vision, euzhan palcy, like the character of ben du toit, was willing to put herself at personal risk to make the injustices of apartheid visible to the world in a dry white season, and the result is an enduringly resonant testament to the capacity of art to effect social and political change. With this bracing drama, made at the climax of the antiapartheid movement, director euzhan palcy issued a devastating indictment of south africas racist governmentand made history in the process, becoming the first black woman to direct a hollywood studio film. When a black friend of his is arrested and then commits suicide in police custody, du toit wants to believe it was an accident, but. White schoolteacher ben du toit donald sutherland lives in johannesburg and remains blissfully incurious about the lives of his black countrymen until a wave of brutal repression comes crashing down on his gardener winston ntshona, bringing du toit facetoface with harsh political realities. A dry white season is a sad, depressing look at racial prejudices in apartheid south africa through the story of a white man trying to bring justice to the memory of a black man. Similar to the lives witnessed in ava duvernays magnificent selma 2014, the characters in a dry white season become part of the world beyond the screen. However in the film a dry white season ben du toit, a teacher at one of the finest schools in johannesburg, is a victim of his own naivete. His investigation opens his eyes to the horrors committed by the secret police and turns him into a target. A great memorable quote from the a dry white season movie on ben du toit. A dry white season opens with the unspectacular death of ben du toit, a 53yearold white afrikaner man knocked down on the road by a hitandrun drivera death reported in only a few lines on the fourth page of the evening newspaper. Ben feels he has no place becoming involved in the racial tensions that are sweeping the nation, which result in the soweto riots of 1976 and the death of a child at his school. When his gardeners son is brutally beaten up by the police at a demonstration by black school children, he gradually begins to realize his own society is built on a pillar of injustice and.
White schoolteacher ben du toit donald sutherland lives in johannesburg and remains blissfully. Ben du toit is a schoolteacher who always has considered himself a man of caring and justice, at least on the individual level. I like that brink shows in multiple instances, from the landscape to the people to the politics that everything is not black or white in apartheid. Donald sutherland stars as ben du toit, a south africanborn schoolteacher who is forced to confront the reality of his racial privilege when the. Ben du toit is one of a relatively small number of south african whites during the apartheid era to stand up and publicly oppose the regime. As startling and powerful as when first published more than two decades ago, andre brinks classic novel, a dry white season, is an unflinching and unforgettable look at racial intolerance, the human condition, and the heavy price of morality. Ben du toit represents a minority of white south africans who took an active role in objecting to the draconian laws of apartheid that were in place from 1948 to 1994. This clear and detailed 62page reading guide is structured as follows. Teacher ben du toit donald sutherland mostly ignores the problems of apartheid in south africa until he discovers that the son of a gardener winston ntshona at his school has been killed by corrupt policeman stolz jurgen prochnow.
In fact, its probably a lessthanaverage film, except for the story. White schoolteacher ben du toit donald sutherland lives in johannesburg and remains blissfully incurious about the lives of his black countrymen until a. When his gardeners son is brutally beaten up by the police at a demonstration by black school children, he gradually begins to realize his own society is built on a pillar of injustice. A dry white season 1979 a novel by south african novelist andre brink, is told from the point of view of an unnamed narrator who serves as a character foil to the books protagonist, antiapartheid activist ben du toit. Though it may seem surprising that du toit could live for 50 years as a south african and have had so little direct experience with blacks that he would not be aware of the vast.
A dry white seasonby andre brinkthe literary work a novel set in johannesburg and soweto, south africa, in the late 1970s. Is white guilt the motivating factor behind du toit s actions. Apr 24, 2014 part two in my sixweek miniseries on south african films. Like an afrikaner policeman with a sjambok, a dry white season bursts through your door and beats you senseless. Ben du toit donald sutherland is a schoolteacher who always has considered himself a man of caring and justice, at least on the individual level. A dry white season follows south african schoolteacher ben du toit donald sutherland, who seeks justice for the murder of a black boy in this political drama set against the backdrop of apartheid. Teacher ben du toit donald sutherland mostly ignores the problems of apartheid in south africa until he discovers that the son of a gardener. In the final analysis, ben du toit makes the ultimate sacrifice as he follows his conscience. Suzette and johansuzette, being older and more involved in the world, takes her fathers actions. His tranquil life is unscathed by the soweto uprising in the summer of 1976 when south african police murder black schoolchildren during a peaceful demonstration. Donald sutherland stars as ben du toit, a south africanborn schoolteacher who is forced to confront the reality of his racial privilege when the son of his black. Sep 30, 2019 donald sutherland stars as ben du toit, a south africanborn schoolteacher who is forced to confront the reality of his racial privilege when the son of his black gardener is brutally beaten by. Teacher ben du toit donald sutherland mostly ignores the problems of apartheid in south africa until he discovers that the son of a.
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