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Visiting the set of Darrell Roodt’s new movie, Winnie, on the day he shoots a sequence in downtown Joburg was a stroke of luck.
The vast story spans Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s life from a schoolgirl in the Transkei to her appearance before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
But there would be no gruelling politics today.
The crew was shooting what director Roodt dubbed the Sex and the City sequence.
In the screenplay – written by Roodt and producer André Pieterse – based on the book Winnie Mandela: A Life, by Anné Mariè du Preez Bezdrob, Winnie is in town with friends and is transfixed by a dress in the store window.
But when she goes inside to try it on, Winnie and her friends are chased out by the racist manager.
A scene or two later, Winnie will find the dress pattern and make it herself to woo the young Nelson Mandela.
Lack of cash flow
Despite the details, this doesn’t come across as an overcontrolled, megaproduction with loads of assistants running around and massive security to protect the Hollywood stars – Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard. In fact, everybody seems remarkably relaxed and into the work.
It’s Sunday morning, day 65 of a two-and-a-half-month marathon shoot that’s had its share of hiccups – from the political hullabaloo over its casting to a few days when production halted for lack of cash flow.
People are tired but the set under Andre Weavind’s control as first assistant director works seamlessly.
Still, working in period is a challenge.
"We made sure things didn’t pop out. We worked very closely with Darrell and director of photography Mario Janelle in the way scenes were staged to block out things that weren’t in period," says production designer Emelia Roux, emphasising that the director "is always after a big look. There are beautiful big shots, and Mario just makes everything so gorgeous."
Like any good epic, the images the filmmakers were aiming for were "dense, romantic and luxurious", says the production designer, who has credits ranging from Tsotsi and The Bang Bang Club to District 9.
1940s Soweto
Today she’s perfectly recreated the heyday of Joburg’s giant stores where white men with gloves announce the floor changes from a chair in the elevator.
Loads of hatboxes and floral arrangements help the fabulous retro set, which transforms the hushed interior of the Rand Club, one of the city’s great heritage buildings, into a bustling department store at the height of apartheid’s artifice.
Roux says it was extremely interesting dealing with the early stuff in the story – Winnie growing up in the Transkei, her move to Johannesburg and her time as the first black social worker at Baragwanath Hospital. In terms of period shooting, she says they were very lucky in the choice of locations, but because they were shooting quite wide, they used cars and other objects to cover up inconsistencies.
Finding a Soweto from the 1940s proved more difficult, but they ended up filming a considerable amount of that material in Kliptown.
It’s time to shoot and the genial Roodt is warming up one of the extras, an elderly lady dressed for summer in the 1950s instead of today’s crisply cold, ultrabright, winter Highveld morning.
The wardrobe looks good on all 40-plus extras, from newspaper boys to businessmen, moustached officials and, of course, women in colourful outfits out for a day of shopping and leisure.
Dialect coach
The film used about 4 000 extras and 100 period vehicles ranging from the 1940s to the 1990s.
Hudson had 76 wardrobe changes and 10 sets of handmade pyjamas.
Fiona Ramsay was the dialect coach who trained Hudson and Howard.
"Jennifer approached the role organically and so the way we dealt with accent and sound had to follow this method," says the acclaimed actress and voice coach.
"I was aided by an isiXhosa coach when teaching Jennifer and Terrence words in the vernacular. I travelled to the US to work with her prior to shooting and worked on a general colour, rhythm and sound, which we perfected once we were working in South Africa and on set. I altered certain words to accommodate sounds – but much of the accent was 'felt' by Jen. Terrence had learnt the entire Rivonia Trial speech by heart before he arrived in South Africa and had a clear idea of how he wanted to portray Madiba. We worked on sounds in detail once he was here and then he wanted to 'fly with it'."
The two methods seem to have worked, so all the protesters can put their casting complaints aside. Both actors were deeply committed to the authenticity of their roles.
Avoiding the press
In fact, before shooting, Hudson was quoted as saying: "(Winnie’s) person, and the way she carried herself, remind me of myself. I can sort of see what they saw in me that made them want me to play the role – that strength and drive never to give up. That vision she had."
The director tells me on the morning of the shoot that I probably won’t be able to have a one-on-one with Hudson. She’s avoiding the press throughout the shoot because she’s here to work and not stir controversy.
But when she comes out of her trailer – accompanied by her bodyguard/minder, Tony – wrapped in a polka dot dressing gown from Woolworths, Roodt introduces me.
She’s radiant and completely sweet. She has talent and presence when she hits the stage or the camera rolls, but offstage she comes across as just one of the girls and that’s what this scene requires.
She pulls it off perfectly.
"About Winnie, not for her"
Roodt was quoted in The Daily Telegraph as saying that the film doesn’t "shy away from the controversies. However, once you see the film, I do believe you’ll realise that those controversies definitely were often portrayed out of context for all kinds of complex political reasons. But it’s certainly not an advertisement. It’s not for Winnie Mandela; it’s about Winnie Mandela."
At the end of the day, I’m allowed to look at a short promo.
Even on a laptop, I can see its ravishing, wide-screen epic images that remind me of movies like David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago and even haunting, contrasting images reminiscent of Coppola’s The Godfather series.
Fans of Hudson and Winnie – and their dissenters – will have to wait until later in the year to see the film, but I reckon this is a big-screen epic that will make South Africans proud.
The vast story spans Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s life from a schoolgirl in the Transkei to her appearance before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
But there would be no gruelling politics today.
The crew was shooting what director Roodt dubbed the Sex and the City sequence.
In the screenplay – written by Roodt and producer André Pieterse – based on the book Winnie Mandela: A Life, by Anné Mariè du Preez Bezdrob, Winnie is in town with friends and is transfixed by a dress in the store window.
But when she goes inside to try it on, Winnie and her friends are chased out by the racist manager.
A scene or two later, Winnie will find the dress pattern and make it herself to woo the young Nelson Mandela.
Lack of cash flow
Despite the details, this doesn’t come across as an overcontrolled, megaproduction with loads of assistants running around and massive security to protect the Hollywood stars – Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard. In fact, everybody seems remarkably relaxed and into the work.It’s Sunday morning, day 65 of a two-and-a-half-month marathon shoot that’s had its share of hiccups – from the political hullabaloo over its casting to a few days when production halted for lack of cash flow.
People are tired but the set under Andre Weavind’s control as first assistant director works seamlessly.
Still, working in period is a challenge.
"We made sure things didn’t pop out. We worked very closely with Darrell and director of photography Mario Janelle in the way scenes were staged to block out things that weren’t in period," says production designer Emelia Roux, emphasising that the director "is always after a big look. There are beautiful big shots, and Mario just makes everything so gorgeous."
Like any good epic, the images the filmmakers were aiming for were "dense, romantic and luxurious", says the production designer, who has credits ranging from Tsotsi and The Bang Bang Club to District 9.
1940s Soweto
Today she’s perfectly recreated the heyday of Joburg’s giant stores where white men with gloves announce the floor changes from a chair in the elevator.
Loads of hatboxes and floral arrangements help the fabulous retro set, which transforms the hushed interior of the Rand Club, one of the city’s great heritage buildings, into a bustling department store at the height of apartheid’s artifice.
Roux says it was extremely interesting dealing with the early stuff in the story – Winnie growing up in the Transkei, her move to Johannesburg and her time as the first black social worker at Baragwanath Hospital. In terms of period shooting, she says they were very lucky in the choice of locations, but because they were shooting quite wide, they used cars and other objects to cover up inconsistencies.
Finding a Soweto from the 1940s proved more difficult, but they ended up filming a considerable amount of that material in Kliptown.
It’s time to shoot and the genial Roodt is warming up one of the extras, an elderly lady dressed for summer in the 1950s instead of today’s crisply cold, ultrabright, winter Highveld morning.
The wardrobe looks good on all 40-plus extras, from newspaper boys to businessmen, moustached officials and, of course, women in colourful outfits out for a day of shopping and leisure.
Dialect coach
The film used about 4 000 extras and 100 period vehicles ranging from the 1940s to the 1990s.
Hudson had 76 wardrobe changes and 10 sets of handmade pyjamas.
Fiona Ramsay was the dialect coach who trained Hudson and Howard.
"Jennifer approached the role organically and so the way we dealt with accent and sound had to follow this method," says the acclaimed actress and voice coach.
"I was aided by an isiXhosa coach when teaching Jennifer and Terrence words in the vernacular. I travelled to the US to work with her prior to shooting and worked on a general colour, rhythm and sound, which we perfected once we were working in South Africa and on set. I altered certain words to accommodate sounds – but much of the accent was 'felt' by Jen. Terrence had learnt the entire Rivonia Trial speech by heart before he arrived in South Africa and had a clear idea of how he wanted to portray Madiba. We worked on sounds in detail once he was here and then he wanted to 'fly with it'."
The two methods seem to have worked, so all the protesters can put their casting complaints aside. Both actors were deeply committed to the authenticity of their roles.
Avoiding the press
In fact, before shooting, Hudson was quoted as saying: "(Winnie’s) person, and the way she carried herself, remind me of myself. I can sort of see what they saw in me that made them want me to play the role – that strength and drive never to give up. That vision she had."
The director tells me on the morning of the shoot that I probably won’t be able to have a one-on-one with Hudson. She’s avoiding the press throughout the shoot because she’s here to work and not stir controversy.
But when she comes out of her trailer – accompanied by her bodyguard/minder, Tony – wrapped in a polka dot dressing gown from Woolworths, Roodt introduces me.
She’s radiant and completely sweet. She has talent and presence when she hits the stage or the camera rolls, but offstage she comes across as just one of the girls and that’s what this scene requires.
She pulls it off perfectly.
"About Winnie, not for her"
Roodt was quoted in The Daily Telegraph as saying that the film doesn’t "shy away from the controversies. However, once you see the film, I do believe you’ll realise that those controversies definitely were often portrayed out of context for all kinds of complex political reasons. But it’s certainly not an advertisement. It’s not for Winnie Mandela; it’s about Winnie Mandela."
At the end of the day, I’m allowed to look at a short promo.
Even on a laptop, I can see its ravishing, wide-screen epic images that remind me of movies like David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago and even haunting, contrasting images reminiscent of Coppola’s The Godfather series.
Fans of Hudson and Winnie – and their dissenters – will have to wait until later in the year to see the film, but I reckon this is a big-screen epic that will make South Africans proud.
