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Country of My Skull

R Released Mar 11, 2005 1h 43m Drama Romance List
23% Tomatometer 82 Reviews 56% Audience Score 2,500+ Ratings
An American reporter (Samuel L. Jackson) and an Afrikaans poet (Juliette Binoche) meet and fall in love while covering South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. Read More Read Less
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Country of My Skull

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Critics Consensus

A well-intentioned but melodramatic look at post-Apartheid South Africa.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Nilsen Arizona Republic It shows what can go wrong when a good-intentioned filmmaker mixes historical tragedy with Hollywood banality. Rated: 3/5 Jun 9, 2005 Full Review Marrit Ingman Austin Chronicle There is great material here and ample food for thought, but the presentation is lacking. Rated: 2/5 Apr 23, 2005 Full Review John Monaghan Detroit Free Press Ostensibly about the aftermath of apartheid, but the pain of a people serves only as a backdrop for the most contrived of love stories. Rated: 2/4 Apr 22, 2005 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Better than its mangy reputation. Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 23, 2019 Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com In spite of narrative missteps that negate the possibility of an empathetic protagonist, "In My Country" does viably introduce the African principle of "Ubuntu" whereby evil transgressions are absolved rather than revenged. Rated: C+ Apr 16, 2009 Full Review Jake Euker F5 (Wichita, KS) A familiar, superficial lesson. Rated: 2/5 Apr 22, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Frances H Again I must in this case ardently disagree with this site and the critics--this one of the best films I have ever seen because it deals with a subject that is seldom treated by the movies and one that is so necessary for the very survival of our world--forgiveness. Not only does In My Country treat the subject of forgiveness, perhaps the hardest thing for humans to do, but it treats this subject very well, in some of the most unforgettable scenes I have watched. A truly moving, beautiful film with superb performances by Samuel L Jackson, Juliette Binoche, and most of all Brendan Gleeson, whose role here is like nothing I have ever seen play before. How critics could call this movie melodramatic, I simply don't understand. Melodrama is something like Gone With the Wind, a soap opera, but this film is real drama, because it tells of things that actually happened and dealt with it in a way that emphasized the necessity for forgiveness instead of vengeance, something so rare, we must reassure every instance of it. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/14/13 Full Review Audience Member In My Country is a film about post-Apartheid South Africa. In 1995 Nelson Mandela established the Truth & Reconciliation Commission which allowed victims to testify to share their stories and perpetrators were allowed to confess their crimes in exchange for amnesty, on the condition that their accounts were truthful and proved to be politically motivated. In My Country was directed by John Boorman and stars Samuel L Jackson and Juliette Binoche and it recounts just some of the thousands of testimonies given during the commision. Unfotrunately the story gets bogged down with a few unessessary subplots such as a relationship between the two leads and an interview between Jackson's character and a ruthless white supremisict played well be Brendan Gleeson. This portion of the film is broken up and presented in scattered moments throughout the movie. I also felt that the wrong actors had been cast. Binoche seems to have been chosen for her ability to cry on que but her performance is unconvincing. Jackson is also two dimentional playing an American reporter and his performances teeters on kitchy. In My Country is a well intended film, telling important stories... but it fails in it's delivery. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie moved at a snails pace. Its a serious and sad subject, but the way it was presented made it seem secondary to the budding, uninteresting romance. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Jackson and Binoche put it on the line in John Boorman's In My Country. Boorman tries to invoke tears but isn't able to connect with the audience as much as the plot could have allowed. Dealing with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa In My Country has moments of brilliance but is never very strong in any faucet. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member An interesting film this dives the viewer into the uneasiness of how to handle a post-apartheid South Africa. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Moving drama about the truth and reconciliations in the aftermath of the Apartheid wars in South Africa. Great lead performanmce by Binoche and Jackson Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Country of My Skull

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis An American reporter (Samuel L. Jackson) and an Afrikaans poet (Juliette Binoche) meet and fall in love while covering South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.
Director
John Boorman
Producer
John Boorman, Robert Chartoff, Kieran Corrigan, Lynn Hendee, Mike Medavoy
Screenwriter
Ann Peacock
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Phoenix Pictures
Rating
R (Scene of Violence|Language|Descriptions of Atrocities)
Genre
Drama, Romance
Original Language
Afrikaans
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 11, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 25, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$163.5K
Runtime
1h 43m
Sound Mix
Surround, SDDS, Dolby SR, Dolby
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