I have to look up my original review for Sarafina! that I wrote back in 1992. I wrote it for the college newspaper and, of course, I kept all my articles I wrote that were published. I have some fond and funny memories of this movie review from over 20 years ago.
#1: I called it the very best movie of 1992. Hands down, no question. And the year was just barely half over.
#2: My editor/teacher edited my article and the line: " and it's the best movie of 1992" to " and it's the best movie of 1992, in my opinion." I thought that was the funniest and saddest thing I ever seen her write. OBVIOUSLY it's my opinion, or I wouldn't have accomplished the goal of writing a movie review, or: opinion piece. (We published it WITHOUT her input/edit.)
Wow. Well, in my defense, I saw it at a screener and I must've been in an excellent mood that day. Because there are things wrong above and it ain't my mentor's editing. (She is still wrong.)
One should never conclude the year in September and state this or that's the best or worst of the year. *Especially* with award season coming up. Also, I was definitely wrong: This is the same year that released Aladdin, Unforgiven, Scent of a Woman, Basic Instinct, A Few Good Men just to name a handful and all of my favorite movies. And some of those came out earlier than this one. So, I truly don't know what I was on.
At any rate, fast forward to 2013. I found this movie on DVD for a very small amount on Amazon.com. Thinking that I absolutely loved it in 1992, and that it'll probably never appear on BluRay, I purchased it. Somehow it sat shelved until recently and I rewatched it, only for the 2nd .and last time.
Yeah, it didn't hold up. I even felt I was over-generous for giving it 3/5 (or in IMDb-land 5/10.) Sure the story was there and the heart was in the actors, but the songs were really mediocre at best and the feeling was only mild this time.
The oddest and most coincidental thing about this viewing was that I decided, after almost a year of owning it without revisiting it, I would watch it finally and it was just past the passing of Nelson Mandela. This movie's core is about him and why they fight and move forward. I hadn't remembered that from my original viewing over two decades past.
I guess I would recommend this movie, but, regrettably, not as much as I did long ago. It's a movie about war, peace, hope and prevailing. It's uplifting, fun and funny at spots while also being deep and depressing. It's not a great musical, but it's one we can stand behind.
* * * Final thoughts: Wait until you get to 12/31 before you choose what's the best of the year. Take my amateur word for it.
#1: I called it the very best movie of 1992. Hands down, no question. And the year was just barely half over.
#2: My editor/teacher edited my article and the line: " and it's the best movie of 1992" to " and it's the best movie of 1992, in my opinion." I thought that was the funniest and saddest thing I ever seen her write. OBVIOUSLY it's my opinion, or I wouldn't have accomplished the goal of writing a movie review, or: opinion piece. (We published it WITHOUT her input/edit.)
Wow. Well, in my defense, I saw it at a screener and I must've been in an excellent mood that day. Because there are things wrong above and it ain't my mentor's editing. (She is still wrong.)
One should never conclude the year in September and state this or that's the best or worst of the year. *Especially* with award season coming up. Also, I was definitely wrong: This is the same year that released Aladdin, Unforgiven, Scent of a Woman, Basic Instinct, A Few Good Men just to name a handful and all of my favorite movies. And some of those came out earlier than this one. So, I truly don't know what I was on.
At any rate, fast forward to 2013. I found this movie on DVD for a very small amount on Amazon.com. Thinking that I absolutely loved it in 1992, and that it'll probably never appear on BluRay, I purchased it. Somehow it sat shelved until recently and I rewatched it, only for the 2nd .and last time.
Yeah, it didn't hold up. I even felt I was over-generous for giving it 3/5 (or in IMDb-land 5/10.) Sure the story was there and the heart was in the actors, but the songs were really mediocre at best and the feeling was only mild this time.
The oddest and most coincidental thing about this viewing was that I decided, after almost a year of owning it without revisiting it, I would watch it finally and it was just past the passing of Nelson Mandela. This movie's core is about him and why they fight and move forward. I hadn't remembered that from my original viewing over two decades past.
I guess I would recommend this movie, but, regrettably, not as much as I did long ago. It's a movie about war, peace, hope and prevailing. It's uplifting, fun and funny at spots while also being deep and depressing. It's not a great musical, but it's one we can stand behind.
* * * Final thoughts: Wait until you get to 12/31 before you choose what's the best of the year. Take my amateur word for it.