alexxchiodo This film follows the tragic story about a girl named Sandra Laing attempting to define who she is as a person during the repressive time of apartheid. Born into a white family, yet having a dark skin tone, commonly referred to scientifically as polygenetic inheritance, Sandra is constantly questioning her sense of identity and belonging amongst people that, supposedly, love her. The film powerfully encapsulates this woman's struggle throughout her arduous life, and as a viewer leaves you inspired by her courage and effort to simply live a happy and liberated life. In essence, it's a tragic yet inspiring story that should be heard and acknowledged by all people.

naimawan I finally saw "Skin" last night. I won't recap the story here. I was fascinated by Sandra Liang's heartbreaking experience, but I missed the movie in the theatre. The actors – Neill, Krige, Okonedo and Kgoroge – performed their roles well. The film, overall, is not perfect. I agree that Sophie Okonedo was not completely believable as the teenage Sandra Laing, but that's a small quibble given Okonedo's gargantuan talent.What really saddens me is that so many people are more concerned with debunking the notion that two white-looking people can (biologically) produce a black-looking child than with South Africa's brutal, hateful apartheid regime that tore this family apart, and turned a beautiful young girl's life into a living hell. All of my white friends summarily dismissed Sandra Laing's story and rejected the possibility that it could be true. For them, it's easier to question Sannie Laing's marital fidelity than to keep an open mind about polygenic inheritance (genetic throwback). They should know by now that we don't know everything about genetic curve balls.The scenes that disturbed me the most were 1) Sandra enduring humiliating tests (measuring of her forehead and pencil stuck in her hair), 3) Sandra bleaching and seriously burning her skin with a dangerous homemade concoction of chemicals, and 3) Sandra's realization of her parents' deep denial of their own racism. It was painful to watch her attempt to survive relentless rejection. I'm convinced she loved Petrus in some way, but I believe she may have chosen to go with him at 15 years old to escape daily psychological and emotional torment. Unfortunately, the "one-drop rule" and the notion of white racial purity (tying to white superiority) remain rampant today, and even in the good old US of A. We will likely solve world hunger and cure every disease imaginable before we eradicate that one! Oh, and Tony Kgoroge is gorgeous. He has beautiful skin and a smile that could melt…well, anything! I loved watching him in "Invictus".

MartinHafer This is the true and very sad story of a young South African, Sandra Laing. Oddly, despite having two white biological parents, she had black features and skin that made her look biracial--a SERIOUS problem in South Africa during Apartheid! And because of that, she had not only legal problems (the parents had to fight in court to have her declared 'white'--otherwise, she would have been barred from most schools) but social ones as racists wanted nothing to do with this girl. Her childhood must have been incredibly lonely...very, very lonely.As Sandra grew, her problems fitting in didn't disappear--and in some ways they got a lot worse. Her own father slowly turned against her--resenting her for her skin color and the embarrassment her let it cause him. Eventually, Sandra met a black man and fell in love--and her racist father couldn't stand her being with 'one of them'! Mom's reaction wasn't much better. Eventually Sandra ran off to Swaziland with him--hoping to escape her insane life. Unfortunately, she was captured and imprisoned for crossing the border illegally. And, in the process, she was disowned by her loving family. Eventually, her new boyfriend also leaves her, as he, too, has trouble coping with her race--she is too 'white' for him! In the end, she is feeling lost and after two decades of estrangement, Sandra goes looking for her family.All in all, this is a heartbreaking movie--particularly so because it's all based on real life people. The acting, direction and entire production is very good and it's a film that no doubt will effect you. You just can't help seeing this sad tale and not feeling terrible for poor Sandra.By the way, you do wonder why the Laing family didn't just leave South Africa. They didn't--so it's only an academic question. But their decision to remain in such a hostile environment s quite curious--as were her parents' continuing to support the Apartheid system! Crazy.Also, I looked for a picture of the real Sandra Laing and noticed that her father did NOT look the least bit like Sam Neill! Bald and dull looking--not at all a hunk-meister like Neill!!

jdesando "I'm not black!" SandraThe color of Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo) colors her life beyond what anyone might dream possible. Born black of white parents Sannie (Alice Krige) and Abraham (Sam Neill), who own a rural general store, Sandra is the center of Skin, a drama played against the harrowing years of Apartheid. She is breaking the law if she lives as a black with whites, so her dad devotes years to have her officially declared white.But even for isolated Afrikaners like the Laings, life is complicated, especially when Sandra falls in love and has a baby with a black farmer, Petrus (Tony Kgoroge). Although the film becomes melodramatic or operatic at times, underneath is a core of truth about a human condition that fosters racial hatred and enslavement even in the modern world. It takes a Mandela to free blacks in Africa, but it is up to the strong of heart like Sandra to make that freedom a reality, day by day.The film, sometimes playing like J. M. Coetzee Coeteze's violent white versus black world, does a credible job showing the contradictions in characters like her dad, who enforces the separation of black and whites but seems to know he is wrong. Yet, he cannot help himself; this is the strength of the film, the consistent struggle between righteous tradition (read separation) and goodness and fairness. Although we know apartheid will end, and Abraham will be a victim of his own willfulness, the film manages to retain the sense of futility for blacks, artistically not easy to do when history has made its statement.The goodness often manifests itself in her mother, a loving woman driven by her husband to lose her daughter and watch him suffer remorse too strong to describe. The truth lies in the pain that an oppressed people have endured for hundreds of years on both sides of the Atlantic. For that truth, Skin is worth experiencing.