Product Description

AMANDLA! A REVOLUTION IN FOUR-PART HARMONY tells the story of black South African freedom music and the central role it played against apartheid. The first film to specifically consider the music that sustained and galvanized black South Africans for more than 40 years, Amandla!'s focus is on the struggle's spiritual dimension, as articulated and embodied in song. Named for the Xhosa word for "power," Amandla! lives up to its title, telling an uplifting story of human courage, resolve, and triumph.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23051 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 2003-10-21
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

Amazon.com
The stunning documentary Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony tells the story of protest music in South Africa--but as it does so, it tells the story of the struggle against apartheid itself, for the music and the revolution are inseparable. Through archival footage and interviews with musicians, freedom fighters, and even members of the former government police, Amandla! creates a vivid and powerful portrait of how music was crucial not only to communicating a political message beyond words, but also to the resistance itself--how songs bonded communities, buoyed resistance in the face of bullets and tear gas, and sowed fear in the ruling elite. Part history, part musical exploration, part sheer force of life, Amandla! captures both the sorrow and the triumph of life in South Africa from the 1950s to 1990, when Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress came into power. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Powerful documentary like no other!
Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, was directed by Lee Hirsch, who sold all his possessions and dropped out of college to make the film. That's the level of commitment and passion exhibited by the creators, but it has nothing on the people starring in this documentary, which focuses on the role music and dance played in the downfall of the Apartheid system in South Africa. I cried at the atrocities committed by the government, and nearly danced for joy myself near the end when Nelson Mandela was shown finally released from prison. The most inspiring aspect of the music in this film is that despite the suffering, there isn't a single "sad" song to be found. The soundtrack is unbelievable, featuring performances and interviews by dynamic and influential artists/activists such as Miriam Makeba, Vusi Mahlasela, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Hugh Masekela.

A fantastic documentary about the power of music
We've all heard cliches about the power of music but this is an amazingly moving film about the real power of music. The movie, shot on a handycam by Lee Hirsch travels through five decades of music and activism in South Africa's history. By looking at the key songs and the men associated with each phase of the struggle, Hirsch does a great job of bringing to life the sheer horror and brutality of everyday life under apartheid. But he also manages to capture the hopes of the revolutionaries through a series of moving and poignant interviews. What struck me about many of the interviews was how spontaneously these activists would break into song to recount their experience. By providing minimal commentary and by letting the songs and men who sang them do the talking, Hirsch has created a masterpiece.

Apart from chronicling the history of the movement, Hirsch also chronicles the lives of many of the activists that the world has forgotten today. The movie opens with the exhumation of Mini's grave to the soulful voice of Vusi Mahlasela. One by one, Hirsch also exhumes heroes and heroines of South Africa's past, particularly musicians, who live only through their songs, and tries to give them their place in the anti-apartheid struggle.

It is also fascinating that the colour of his skin allows Hirsch to shoot some fascinating footage including those of modern white South Africans nostalgic for an earlier age. Hirsch also allows a deft touch of humour to pervade his work, subtly, without ever being disrespectful to his subjects. One of my favourite scenes is where Rathebe recounts how they would sing revolutionary songs and the whites would look at them and praise them for their melody not realising what the actual lyrics were. It's hard to describe that scene in words, but its wonderfully shot and the two matriarchs burst into spontaneous laughter at the memory, and yet the viewer is never allowed to forget the pain of the condescension and humiliation they suffered. Their laughter, like their song, is a slap, even today to those who persecuted them.

I would also recommend buying the Amandla! CD along with this. It contains the full version of many of the songs featured in the documentary including the seminal 'Beware Verwoerd' which runs like an anthem through the anti-apartheid struggle and a fantastic version of Mahlasela's 'When You Come Back' sung, in the movie, in tribute to Vusiliye Mini.

AMANDLA! IS A MUST SEE
I am a black West Indian who had been fortunate enough to see this documentary before I bought the DVD....it is fantastic and moving and emotional and awe inspiring! I looked at it thorugh a veil of tears! Every individual alive regardless of race needs to purchase this DVD and take a good long repeated look at this documentary which chronicles the resilience of the human spirit....I felt inspired to stand on principle and proud to be alive after looking at the documentary. It was REAL...Nothing put on for the cameras...the pride the people felt for their songs and for their leaders and the strength to keep up the fight was palpable throughout...Hugh Masakela, Myriam Makeba and the other performers who faced racism and hatred everyday still loved their country and that was obvious throughout...from the travesty that was Aparthied we now fortunately have a glimpse into one aspect of what it took to keep South African victims of apartheid motivated to fight the power! AMANDLA!