Thousands of applications for amnesty -- eighty percent of them from blacks, despite the fact that many more blacks were killed under whites' 40-year minority rule -- came before the TRC, headed by Bishop Desmond Tutu, who is interviewed in the film. Long Night's Journey Into Day examines four of these cases, offering insightful interviews with the perpetrators, family members, journalists, and TRC commissioners. The film includes powerful historical footage along with documentation of the highly-charged hearings in the towns where the brutal crimes occurred.

There is the Cape Town hearing on the murder of American student Amy Biehl, killed during a violent political protest, at which Biehl's parents offer their own moving efforts at reconciliation. There is security officer Erik Taylor's plea for amnesty for his role in the gruesome murders of the anti-apartheid activists known as the "Cradock 4." There is Robert McBride, the black political activist responsible for a bar bombing that killed three white women. And there is the explosive, emotional case of the "Gugulatu 7," in which seven black men were shot to death in the streets by police claiming that the men were participants in an anti-terrorist action.

Hoffmann and Reid, San Francisco filmmakers and partners whose past projects include such renowned documentaries as The Times of Harvey Milk and Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter, use face-to-face interviews to great effect, allowing principals to recount incidents and react to off-camera questions. The confessional style of the interviews underscores the intent of the TRC, an experiment in justice aimed more at contrition than retribution. As one of the TRC members states, the aim of the process was to try to avoid the painful, lingering wounds of Germany's Nuremberg trials of accused war criminals. Rather than judge guilt, the TRC offered conditional amnesty in exchange for the truth, an often searing, cathartic process for all involved.

The film raises issues about the effectiveness of the process; there are plenty of harrowing moments that produce heartbreaking reactions from victims' families. At the same time, the film documents the tentative results of the truth-telling, a kind of emotional and spiritual soul-cleansing. In the end, Long Night's Journey Into Day thoughtfully and powerfully provokes questions about the very nature of forgiveness.

--Loren King

See also:

• Official Web site