La forza del singolo

wonderful job at making the book (I read that). And for the directing of the film, it was fantastic. Starting with Peekay as the young boy at just 6 or 7 years old, being treated so horribly gives one a different view of life in Africa in the WW2 years. Several differences between the book and the movies, but that is to be expected. If you haven't read the book already, but you've seen the movie, you'll still feel the power and climatic of this production. Well put by the actors Stephen Dorff, Simon Fenton, Guy Witcher, who all played Peekay; Armin Mueller-Stahl for his peaceful acting of Doc; Morgan Freeman for Geel Pete; Fay Masterson for Maria; and all the rest for making such a tremendous thought-provoking film. A masterpeice telling people what is going on in the world, to get them to act to it. May the world flow with peace and beauty.

When Stephen Dorff's character of PK sees the African child reading from the U.S. Declaration of Independence about that all men are created equal, he knew he'd started something. Literacy is always the key to freedom and accessibility to read everything is the second step. The southerners in the slave holding part of the USA knew that well. It was a crime back in the day to teach a black slave to read. In our own country Frederick Douglass knew that well and he counted his education as a first step for freedom for his people.

What I liked about The Power of One is that it goes into the history of the Union of South Africa as seen not from a historian, but from the point of view of a growing boy who was of English parentage. The young man who grew up to be Stephen Dorff because he's orphaned as a child has to go to a school for Afrikaans children. Their resentment of English encroachment and victory in the Boer War runs deep. Their ministers in the Dutch Reformed Church preach a brand of Christianity that can now only be found in the USA among white supremacist fringe groups. It wasn't so long ago it was more in the mainstream here, let alone in South Africa.

Dorff identifies with the blacks because he's an oppressed minority as well. The film takes us through the late twenties. thirties, and forties in South African history. The year 1948 is a critical one as shown here. The coalition building of Jan Christian Smuts came to an end as his South African Party was voted out of office and the white supremacist Nationalist Party of Daniel Malan was voted in. What was informal before became established law at that point. Of course even then a lot of people of good will in all races living there opposed that policy. It remained in affect until Nelson Mandela was elected president.

Young people are shown as the engineers of change in South Africa. Dorff, his friend Dominic Walker, his African boxing rival Alois Moyo and even Fay Masterson whose father is high up in the Nationalist Party are the opponents. All of them give fine performances.

The two most well known names in the cast are Sir John Gielgud as Dorff's English headmaster and Morgan Freeman the African who teaches him to box. The first half of the film is a flashback as Dorff's is reciting an autobiographical essay for class which we don't realize until the classroom is shown. He learned to box to combat the unceasing bullying he took from the Afrikaans kids. Freeman gives a wonderful performance and the coda to it was supplied by Dorff when he says that the Afrikaans policeman who beat Freeman to death was later found strung up in an isolated area.

One of the kids who bullies Dorff grows up to be Daniel Craig who also becomes a policeman who now have powers greater than they had before. Their confrontation in the end is something to see. As a kid Craig idolized Hitler and as an adult we see how he put those ideas into practice. It's a truly malevolent portrayal of hate, you could tell Mr. Craig had a good career ahead of him.

As did Stephen Dorff. He's got a great ear for dialect, right in the tradition of Robert Mitchum. Hard to believe he's an American.

For a great picture of South Africa turning a dark corner in its history, I highly recommend The Power of One.

Having read both the book and watched the film, this is a great film.

Although lacking a lot of the depth and detail the book had it still captures the essence that Bryce Courtenay used in the book.

I myself grew up in South Africa during Apartheid and it was indeed a tragedy, this book captures what I saw during my time to the letter. The governing powers feared the tribes and from this grew hate,from hate anger.

I read the book whilst still in South Africa as a teenager and it left me with a tear more than once. The Film has been skillfully crafted as well as any adaptation can be done and still leaves me with a lump every time that pinnacle line is uttered: 'Little beat Big, If little is smart. First with the head, then with the Heart'

A shame that Robert Kamen didn't put the same emphasis that came from the book.

The Power Of One is based on a novel by the very talented Bryce Courtenay. The sequel novel,Tandia, which picks up right where The Power of One left off is equally moving and compelling reading.I am promptly going to go out and read everything else he has written. Both The Power of One and Tandia have moved me beyond words. I am a white South African girl who spent 19 years of my life in SA. I led a very privileged, sheltered childhood growing up in South Africa. I was just 15 when apartheid fell apart. My parents were not racist and in fact my father dedicated his life to working as a doctor in a very poor area but I still , unbelievably, never really had a very clear picture of the horror of apartheid until Mr Courtenay outlined it so vividly in these books.(as I said I was sheltered as a white child)I feel extraordinarily blessed and lucky to have directly avoided the violence and sickness that invaded my country for so long just because I was lucky enough to be born with white skin. I now live in the States but South Africa will always be home. I wept most of the way through both books. I have never been so moved in my life.Mr Courtenay summed up perfectly the collective guilt that white South Africans must carry with them forever more for our people's legacy of hate and brutality and oppression Even if we ourselves are not guilty - our people are guilty.He also, of course, inspires us to believe that one person can make a difference and that sanity,justice and compassion can win in the end even if the fight is long and hard.For those of you who think the characters are too stereotyped- in some aspects you are right. Not all Afrikaaners are the evil, racist villains that are portrayed in the books . However, I certainly encountered people growing up with unbelievable racism, fear and hate who do match some of the characters in the book.So there is truth to his characters also. I have no doubt that the brutality was accurate. One only has to look at historical events in SA history to confirm that. Thank you Mr Courtenay for your wonderful gift and for sharing it with the world.

As for the movie: I must admit it has been years since I happened upon it on television late at night. I do remember being quite swept up in the film but then being disappointed with the direction they chose to take it in. A Hollywood ending on what could have been a remarkable African movie.I do understand that film is a completely different medium and changes were necessary to adapt the book to film. Still I cannot help being disappointed with some of the changes that I deemed uneccessary such as the changing of Peekay's name from the wonderful, mystical"The Tadpole Angel" or "onoshobishobi ingelosi" to "The rainmaker" Come on! That's lame! The rainmaker?!That has none of the same feeling the other names invoke.The addition of the girlfriend just to give Peekay a love interest is unnecessary fluff and her character not well developed enough to warrant such an addition.Nonetheless, the film is still worth seeing.

I must say that I truly do hope that someone else re-makes this and does a better job.Tandia would make a fantastic film also. I am going to buy a copy on DVD and re-watch it and the post my thoughts here after refreshing it in my mind. I highly recommend reading both The Power Of One and Tandia to all interested in the history of apartheid in South Africa or just those looking for a good drama and a fascinating stories with strong characters.Even if you hate to read and are intimidated by the thought of reading such large books- just start- I guarantee you, you won't be able to put both these books down!If you haven't seen the film or read the books, I guess you should watch the film first. Otherwise you will be sorely disappointed and outraged at all the negative changes and you won't be able to truly enjoy the film for what it is: a nice attempt at an adaptation of a marvellous book.

It's been a while since I have seen the movie for the first time. Though I really liked the first two thirds of the film (up to the point, when Stephen Dorff takes over the main-character (but that has nothing to do with his performance)). I found, that the last part was strange and somehow out of continuity. The first part strictly sticks to the idea of experiencing Apartheid from the view of a boy, who is growing up in a system of classes and injustice and who himself fails to really belong to any of these classes. The last part however suddenly tries to be a lot of movies in one: Action, Romance, Patriotism and a Historic Anti-apartheid picture. And I think, trying to do too much, it failed to be anything of the above in the end.

The reason I'm writing this comment now is, that I am just done reading Bryce Courtenays novel. And I was really surprised to learn, that exactly after two thirds of the story, the movie totally goes its own way and ignores the course things take in the novel. The last part of the Novel is just as great as the first. If you liked the movie (or at least the first part) read the book, it's worth it!

To sum it up: I believe The Power Of One had the potential to be an outstanding picture. The music was great, the landscapes beautiful and the acting excellent (Armin Müller Stahl at his best). But unfortunately somebody tried to write an american ending for an african story and couldn't have failed worse.