Prominent Australian psychiatrist Sidney Bloch was a medical student in Cape Town, South Africa, during the 1960s, a time when the apartheid system was firmly entrenched. Filmmaker Rod Freedman's well-intentioned documentary follows Bloch as he returns for the 40th reunion of his med school class—a journey also marked by his effort to rid himself of longstanding nagging guilt that as a young student he did not take any significant activist role against the racial injustice that flourished around him. Along for the ride (and narrating the movie) is Bloch's slightly annoying 20-something son, who chides his father for not being more open about standing idly by during the earlier era of repression. Bloch takes what becomes an easy guilt-cleansing tour of Cape Town—not to mention Robben Island prison, where Nelson Mandela and others were incarcerated—talking to ordinary townsfolk about their experiences with segregation. But for all his humanist gestures and copious tears, there is something a bit cushy and self-aggrandizing about his self-redemption process. In fact, it's only after Bloch confronts a former Afrikaans classmate (and ideological foe) toward the end of the film that he's hit with a really uncomfortable memory more personal and grounded in reality than he bargained for. DVD extras include an interview with Freedman, and a study guide. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (M. Sandlin)
Wrong Side of the Bus
(2009) 56 min. DVD: $24.95. First Run Features (avail. from most distributors). Volume 26, Issue 6
Wrong Side of the Bus
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