An apartheid musical--adapted from a minor hit on Broadway in 1988--ostensibly directed at families (with Whoopi Goldberg's casting the commercial hook). South African students, led by headstrong teenager Sarafina, protest and riot when their beloved teacher, the politically-wise Mary Masombuka, is taken to prison over arguments implementing the West Germanic Afrikaans as the school's language. Would-be inspirational effort, a pet project for Whoopi, was shot on-location in Soweto and Johannesburg, and does a fairly interesting job mixing the harsh realities of this strife-ridden city with unabashed singing and dancing (mainly used as fantasy subtext). However, the political points are made early on in Mbongeni Ngema's and William Nicholson's screenplay, so there are no plot twists nor anywhere special the picture can go. The impetus of the material is to teach us something through the students' passionate fervor, but director Darrell Roodt can only work up a mild head of steam, falling back on that old stand-by: sermonizing. Meanwhile, Goldberg, in sedate mode as Mary, smiles serenely at the kids, nodding quietly in agreement with their protestations (she has the patience of 100 saints). Her first involvement in an early number, a musical prayer set on the school grounds, is ridiculously clumsy. The teenagers, energetic to a fault, fare somewhat better. *1/2 from ****
Review of Sarafina!
