Place of Weeping Reviews

On a South African farm, Joseph (Siphiwe Khumalo), a poor black worker, asks his white employer Tokkie Van Rensburg (Charles Comyn) for an increase in weekly rations. Van Rensburg, a brutal individual who hates the blacks, responds by destroying Joseph's sack of flour and telling him to leave. That evening Joseph sneaks back to the farm to steal a chicken for his family. When Van Rensburg hears a noise outside, he finds Joseph and beats him to death. The next morning, when the workers find the corpse, Van Renburg accuses them of killing one of their own. The laborers are too frightened to speak out, but one woman, Gracie (Gcina Mhlophe), refuses to bow under Tokkie's power, and enlists the aid of a white journalist (James Whyle) to help bring Van Rensburg to trial. At the film's center, Gcina Mhlophe's Gracie is a portrait of dignity in the face of oppression. She brings a quiet but assured presence to her character. Writer-director Darryl Roodt emphasizes the human factor within Gracie's harsh story without giving a preachy anti-apartheid message. Instead, he wisely lets the characters and their situation speak for themselves. Roodt makes effective use of his filmmaking tools, portraying violence in a stylized manner that utilizes distorted camera angles, closeups, and rapid editing to heighten the emotional impact. (In English.)