Although song has historically played an essential role in the struggle for social change, its role in the battle against South African apartheid was distinctively prevalent. Seamlessly blending interviews, historical footage, emotional musical performances and evocative re-enactments, Lee Hirsch’s award-winning documentary “Amandla!” focuses on how music galvanized blacks over South Africa’s 40-year political, social and spiritual turmoil.
“The thing that saved us was the music … it was part of liberating ourselves,” says jazz pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim in the film. “(It was the) first revolution ever to be conducted in four-part harmony.”
“Amandla!” documents the anti-apartheid movement spanning from 1948 until its triumphant climax in 1994 when Nelson Mandela was named president in the first integrated democratic election. Without the resources to organize a political resistance movement or stage a military coup, song became their primary weapon.
In 1948 the all-white National Party took power with apartheid at the heart of its agenda. By 1950, blacks were required to carry “pass books” in order to access white areas. The state also outlawed interracial marriage.
In 1952 the African National Congress launched a massive nonviolent crusade to defy apartheid laws. During this movement, many black leaders were jailed or executed.
Vuyisile Mini, a composer and activist who was hanged at Pretoria Central Prison in 1964, becomes a prominent figure in the film. As the unofficial leader of the anti-apartheid movement, he used song to give voice to a powerless people. When Mini was executed, he was buried in a pauper’s grave.
“Amandla!” opens with the exhumation of his remains and closes with his state funeral.
Song lyrics ranged from expressions of pride, to feelings of grief, to declarations of defiance.
Each song becomes a method of social commentary in the environment of oppressive politics. The song “Beware Verwoerd (Nants Indonmaya)” served as a warning to the Nationalist prime minister, Hendrik Verwoerd — who initiated apartheid — with words like “Watch out Verwoerd, the black man’s going to get you.”
“Meadowlands” mirrors the forced movement of blacks to government-assisted housing. “Oliver Tambo” and “Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)” chronicle the outrage of blacks when their leaders were persecuted.
In one of the most stirring segments of the film, singer and actress Sophie Mgcina breaks out into an impromptu version of “Madam Please,” a song in which a domestic servant addresses her employer. The deep-rooted suffering and indignity of blacks shines through this piece, but with a startlingly peaceful tone toward white oppressors.
As the movement marches into the ’70s and ’80s, the tone became markedly different. An armed militant group called the MK formed in the ANC and songs grew more aggressive and defiant, much like the MK’s tactics.
The MK’s abandonment of peaceful resistance gained support with growing outrage over the imprisonment of political leaders and police brutality.
“Amandla!” means “power” in the Xhosa language and the film explores the ability of music to translate struggle into a language everyone can understand. Music in South Africa was and still is a communal experience, used to inspire, comfort, communicate, mobilize and unite in an era of enormous adversity.
The film interweaves inspiring anthems performed by native musicians, political activists and regular people to construct a surprisingly comprehensive reality of life under apartheid. “Amandla!’s” ambitious scope takes the audience on a remarkable journey and paints a vivid picture of the resilience of the human spirit. nyou
