If this is indicative of things to come, Jodhi May will be one strong actress to reckon with. Barbara Hershey has never been better, but Jodhi May steals the show as her neglected daughter struggling with terms of identity and growth in South Africa pre-Apartheid. This one is truly a gem. I highly recommend seeing it at any opportunity. I have a copy of it I taped off the television years and years ago. I'm hoping one day it is released on DVD.

It's 1963 South Africa. Molly Roth (Jodhi May) is the oldest daughter of journalist Diana Roth (Barbara Hershey) and Gus Roth (Jeroen Krabbé). Her parents are ANC supporters. Her father had escaped arrest and fled the country. Her mother gets arrested and she loses her only school friend.

Molly is the more interesting character. There needs to be a bit more done to build up to Diana's suicide attempt. There are ways to sell it cinematically and make it more dramatic. The movie does need to show her assassination instead of simply doing it in text. This is an intriguing movie and it could do more.

Like "Cry Freedom" the previous year, "A World Apart" shows life in apartheid-era South Africa. This one tells the story of the Slovo family, who were trying to bring down apartheid (the names are changed in the movie). The father has had to flee the country after threats against him. The daughter (Jodhi May) is bullied in school, where her classmates call her father a "traitor". Finally, the mother (Barbara Hershey) is arrested. The daughter then truly begins to see the oppressive system through the eyes of the black population.

The whole story resembles that of the Rosenberg children, right down to the fate of the parents (Mrs. Slovo was assassinated in 1982). And it is so horrible to think that this vile agenda was in power for over forty years. There may be some things in life that we will never be able to get over.