Thanks to reader Nicolas Mancuso for tipping me off to this extended promo trailer for “Winnie,” Darrell James Roodt’s Winnie Mandela biopic with Jennifer Hudson in her first dramatic headlining role. I was sceptical of this project when it was announced a year ago, and I’m afraid the trailer has only exacerbated my fears. A big-name screen treatment was always likely to smooth over some of the uglier wrinkles in Ms. Mandela’s personal and political life, but this looks to be a shameless whitewash job: seeing this troubled, charismatic criminal (and arguable murderess) given the fawning violin treatment, complete with laudatory intertitles like “Her Courage” and “Her Strength,” leaves a very sour taste indeed. (More, and the embedded trailer, after the cut.)
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