Steve Pulaski The Power of One is something of a different breed for me. I normally don't watch films like these if I do not see them in school. I didn't expect a whole lot, but what I got was definitely a favorable taste. The film depicts what it was like to live in South Africa in the thirties and forties. To put it simplistically, it was hell. It was one of the most crucial punishments of the time to be black and have your home be in South Africa.The plot: PK is an English boy, and after his mother is recovering from several life obstacles he gets sent to a Dutch school. What an unenjoyable and miserable experience for such a young boy as he is victimized and tormented because of the Dutch's extreme hatred towards the English/British because of The Boer War outcome.There are details I'd rather not go into because one of which made me so upset it was unspeakably depressing. This film is one of those films where there isn't anything really wrong with the movie, but it's depressing. If it isn't one thing, it's another. Trust me, I've seen films like that that jump from happy to sad. You become so emotionally rocked you feel you're back at age thirteen undergoing puberty.After that rancid and horrible treatment, we see PK grow older and older till he reaches his teen years becoming a young adult. Along the way he meets Geel Piet (Freeman) who trains him to become a stronger, more physical human being so he can defend himself. PK learns love, loss, and violence as he tries to make a decision rather to stay or go.The Power of One has a few technical errors I'd like to point out. One, at the very end the green screen job becomes (a) very fake and (b) the human characters find themselves stuck in the mud. You'll see. The other is that PK's hair color changes frequently throughout the film. This could be his attempts to blend in, but it's never discussed in the film.The score to the film was real well composed by Hans Zimmer (The Simpsons). And there are some scenes in the film I'd like to watch again. The Power of One isn't perfect and a bit uneasy maybe for younger viewers, but it is still a solid movie about the honorable PK and the hell he was going through during the thirties and forties.Starring: Stephen Dorff, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Craig, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and John Gielgud. Directed by: John G. Avildsen.

woozoo I have read the book. For me, it was a sentimental journey. A chance, to relive the past, my past, a journey worth re-visiting.This movie, is propaganda. And it is built on the worst type of propaganda, that which revolves around being Politically Correct, while at the same time avoiding any truth. The original book is based on complete tragedy. Only the book can convey to you the reader, the losses that PK felt. This movie is such an insult, I shall always tell people to read the book, and to avoid the movie. Any and all the bare any love to me that they may profess, will honour my wishes. This movie, is based on the book, but in very few ways reflects the book, or it's author.This movie does not reflect the book. This movie, even though it stars such wonderful actors as Morgan Freeman, a man, that I personally love, is not worth anything.Read the book. Avoid the movie.

choirgirl1987 This was an AMAZING movie. I can not believe that I hadn't seen it before today (Oct 6, 2006). This movie made me cry multiple times, and I am NOT one to cry because of a movie. It was SO real, and to think that it was dealing with stuff that happened less than 40 years ago. It deals with the apartheid in South Africa, and how segregation is so horribly wrong. It follows the life of a boy in South Africa, and his struggles by being one of the few English children in the area he grew up. It follows him through many deaths of friends and family. It shows him as he grows up and becomes a man, and takes a stand for what he believes in. If you care about anything, this movie will show it somehow. You really should watch it! I SWEAR that you won't be disappointed!

marcelle-8 The story has been changed a lot (apparently) from the book. Since the film was made as a reaction (I assume) to pre-1994 South Africa ("Old South Africa") viewing it today, it seems dated, with a strong anti-South African flavour and magnified violence that seem overdone at times.The exact setting of P.K.'s family's farm and his first boarding school is unclear, and it can be quite confusing to put the rest of the story together.The film portrays Afrikaans people as the villains (played by new "James Bond", Daniel Craig and other Brits), and English speaking white people as the heroes (played by Americans and British actors). Black South Africans fill out the rest of the cast.It is evident that the filmmakers had their own idea (and that includes the dialect coach) about what South Africans are really like (or what they sound like!), with historical and geographical accuracy not big on their agenda.A particularly laughable scene was where P.K. (who lives in Johannesburg) goes back to the bush to think, and one sees a montage of Steven Dorff walking near the Victoria Falls (which is on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia 1317km north of Johannesburg) and appears in his principle's office the next day, ready with an answer!Further, the characters seems unclear as to what the township's (Alexandra) name is they are talking about, some referring to it as "Alexander".At least Morgan Freeman's African accent seems correct!