" We were taught, sometimes in a very positive way, to despise ourselves and our ways of life. We were made to believe that we had no past to speak of, no history to boast of. The past, so far as we were concerned, was just a blank and nothing more. Only the present mattered and we had very little control over it. It seemed we were in for a definite period of foreign tutelage, without any hope of our ever again becoming our own masters. The end result of all this was that our self-pride and our self-confidence were badly undermined.
It should now be our intention to try to retrieve what we can of our past. We should write our own history books to prove that we did have a past, and that it was a past that was just as worth writing and learning about as any other. We must do this for the simple reason that a nation without a past is a lost nation, and a people without a past is a people without a soul."
Sir Seretse Khama, 15 May 1970
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Sir Seretse Khama, or President Seretse Khama was the first President of Botswana and A United Kingdom tells how he defied tradition by marrying a white British woman when his uncle & village were waiting for him to become King and choose a Motswana woman.
I loved A United Kingdom because it was refreshing to watch a movie about an African leader who is not Nelson Mandela. Filmmakers have been so obsessed with uTata, you'd swear he was the only one of our leaders with a story worth telling. I hope the making of this film means that there will be more African stories that will be told, because I am certain there are more. So a big thank you to Amma Asante for telling this story.
The film stars David Oyelewo as Sir Seretse Khama and Rosamund Pike as his wife Ruth Williams and I enjoyed them in these roles. David really made me fall in love with ntate Seretse and got me wanting to know more about the man. (You can read about him HERE).
Terry Pheto and Vusi Kunene are also in the film and Terry's role as Seretse's sister earned her a Best Supporting Actress award at the British Independent Film Awards.
The only "review" I have is that I loved this and think you should watch it.
It is currently on Dstv Box Office until 31 May so if you have access, watch it otherwise, go rent it. Wait... do movie renting places still exist? heheh
Check out the Movie Trailer below:
Not everyone loved the movie though, here's someone who had a problem with some of the facts in the movie. I think he should calm down *insert eye roll emoji* Read his rant HERE, but do that after watching, if you don't want spoilers.
None of what he complains about takes away from the fact that A United Kingdom is a beautiful love story.
And I'm a sucker for love.
P.S. The current president of Botswana, Ian Khama is Sir Seretse & Ruth's eldest son.
By LeloB
Yhu Lelo I also loved the movie, I watched it in Dec last year when is was still in cinemas. A beautiful love story indeed and I cried most of the time.
It left me with such beautiful thoughts. Glad there's someone else who loved it like me.
"our history did not begin in chains and it will not end in chains".I love this powerful quote.It is sad to imagine that what we believe about ourselves as Africans has been fed to us by agnostic foreigners.Our history as Africans has been framed by Europeans to diminish our greatness as African people.I hope that the telling of such a beautiful story will inspire more Africans to tell our own stories.
What a prolific story of the Batswana's. Sir Seretse was bold. Yes, he loved his people but he loved Ruth just as much. Pula!!!
Finally a Brit/Hollywood actor who got the African accent on lockdown. David Oyelewo was truly amazing.
Rosamund Pike though... brilliant actress - she is my new Cate Blanchet. Their chemistry was melting - amazing what good casting can do to elevate a rich story.
Vusi Kunene, Chinese bow. Laudable actor.