Customer Reviews

Cry Freedom [VHS]

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The criticism I've heard when this movie is being discussed has always bothered me to some degree. The knock against it is that Denzel Washington is so strong in the role of Steve Biko, and he himself was such an important figure in South African history, that he deserves a movie of his own. Now, while I agree with this assessment, and hope that maybe a Djimon Hounsou or Chiwetel Ejiofor will revisit the role at some future date, I can't help but feel that these people are judging the movie for what they wanted it to be, and not what's actually up there on the screen.

Not only that, but I feel that the loss of Biko midway through the film actually serves a purpose. And that purpose is, by the final half-hour, when we're privileged enough to have a few flashbacks of him, we realize what a loss he has been to the movie, and to the world. So by having him cut out of a good portion of the film, we're made to grieve his death while the movie continues to soldier forward.

Oh, and by the way, it's not like that second half is a dog, either. It's just not quite as good as the first. I mean, if this movie were cut in two (ala "Kill Bill"), we'd being saying that part one was brilliant, while part two was merely very good. And considering that the 80's were hardly a golden age for Hollywood, that ain't bad.

Now, getting back to Denzel, this is not only the best performance of his career, but possibly one of the greatest ever captured on celluloid, and I find it deeply disconcerting that he didn't win an Academy Award for this performance while he was honored for a menial role in "Training Day" (I'll post a review later explaining my opinion). Not only that, but why, dare I ask, was he nominated in a supporting role, when the Golden Globes acknowledged him as a leading man? Sure, his character was murdered an hour and a half into the movie, but Anthony Hopkins had no more of a lead in "Silence of the Lambs" than Denzel was here.

I hate to cry racism against "liberal" Hollywood, but how else can you explain this, along with the fact that some of the best performances of recent years, given by black actors, have been overlooked? For example, Delroy Lindo in "Clockers," Giancarlo Espisito in "Bob Roberts," Larenz Tate in "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," and the list just goes on and on. I could probably name 50 more if given the time. Not to mention the fact that Spike Lee has never been nominated for Best Director, not even for "Malcolm X" or "Do the Right Thing," neither of which can be disputed as one of the best films of their respective years.

But now I've gone off on a rant, and forgotten to mention Kevin Kline's great supporting work here, and Richard Attenborough, who has yet to top this movie in the seventeen years since it's release. This is also his best work to date, in my opinion, and even tops his much more lauded "Gandhi."

Of course, if you're watching this movie for the first time and don't understand why anyone would make such a fuss about it, I challenge you to sit through the closing credits without being moved to tears. It's just a remarkable bit of filmmaking, simple but powerful, and may be the best end credit sequence since Martin Ritt's "The Front."

When I was a high school English teacher and read and discussed "Cry, the Beloved Country" with my seniors, I always showed "Cry Freedom" in conjunction. Students were mesmerized. While the novel was set in South Africa with apartheid partly responsible for the crime that takes place, apartheid is as much a major character as Stephen Biko or Donald Woods in the movie.

In case you are confused, "Cry, the Beloved Country" is the lyrical novel by Alan Paton, published in 1948 and set in South Africa, Paton's homeland. Three racial groups, lived together, not in harmony, there: the Dutch, who later called themselves Afrikaaners, who settled there three hundred years earlier and believed they sere sent by God to take control; the English who settled everywhere; and the native groups, of which Bantu was one. This novel is a moving testament to the forgiving nature of men and how two men from totally different worlds can come together in grace and acceptance.

In "Cry Freedom," the film based on the nonfiction book by the same name, is a story of Stephen Biko, a black South African political activist who understood the inherent dangers in being an activist but lived by the creed that a man has to do what a man has to do. He is befriended in respect and admiration by a white American journalist, Donald Woods. Their two stories are equally important because of the consequences of their actions.

Denzel Washinton performs the role of Biko as if he was Biko--I was that convinced. His South African accent is perfect. I personally believe this is the best acting role of his distinguished career. Kevin Kline is also excellent and performs one of my favorite roles he has ever played.

Biko brashly challenges the Afrikanner government and is banned from ever speaking again. He does so, is arrested and tortured into a coma and dies of a brain hemorrhage as he is transported 600 miles away to a hospital. Obviously, the government wanted him dead.

The rest of the film details Woods and his family's departure from South Africa, knowing he may be next because of his support of Biko. His escape is important in the Biko story because it is Woods who brings it to print and thus to film. Without Woods we probably would not know the Biko story of courage and dedication to cry for freedom for his people.

This is a must-see film. One that mesmerizes 17-year-olds and makes them angry, white and black, at injustice is not a film to miss. Plus the information interspersed during the credits will make you gasp at the sheer audacity and cruelty of man.

What a treat to see this beautiful film on dvd. I had seen it on vhs years ago, and recently found and read BIKO by Donald Woods, on which the film was based. The movie stays very close to the book.

For those interested, the book delves much deeper into Biko's life and character, and gives a good summarized history of South Africa. The book also gives more information about the transformation of Woods from a liberal to an activist and the development of their friendship.

Denzel's performance is top notch, and the music moving. You will have a lump in your throat at the end. I found the movie even more enjoyable after reading the book and seeing it on dvd.

Mr Keogh claims that this movie is only semi-successful because its focus shifts halfway through to focus on Donald Woods' attempt to escape South Africa. I do not think that this is a flaw in the film, though, because the film was based upon Woods' writings about both Steve Biko AND his escape from South Africa. The movie was not intended to be simply a biopic about Biko, because it was based upon the work that Woods wrote.

I watched this film in an African Philosphy course in which we read some of Biko's own work and personally, I feel that the entire film is a wonderful film. It is true that the emphasis does shift to Donald Woods' escape, but the scene where he is looking down on South Africa from the airplane that then shifts to the protest/massacre of school children is both beutifally stirring (the protest) and utterly horrific (the massacre that then esues). To anyone interested in human rights or the struggles agains Apartheid that Biko helped contribute to, I would recommend this movie highly.

The first time I saw this movie was as a hard to please teen in High School. It was during the hot Aussie summmer months and all myself and my fellow classmates wanted to was install some airconditioning, put our feet up and sip lemonade. What we didn't want to do was watch yet another boring tear jerker about the harsher sides of life in a country that we couldn't give two hoots about. What we got was a lesson in life.

From the moment Cry Freedom began I was hooked. Not only does it present to you superb landscapes and two famous Hollywood actors, but it also gave you a tremendous insight into the horrors of Apartheid. This movie was a factual account of the lives of Bantu Steven Biko (the Black South African Activist who was prepared to die for his beliefs) and white South African newspaper editor Donald Woods. The movie was based on the published novel written by Woods himself which was smuggled out of South Africa to England where it could be read by the public (the books by Woods and this movie were both banned materials in South Africa). It is a sad and honest account of the frustrating way of life for a black person living under the thumb of white supremists. Hopefully others will see this numbing account and allow their eyes to be opened to the injustice continuing around the world.

This is one of my all time favourite movies. One of the most powerful stories told on the silver screen.

Twenty-three years ago this month of September a young man was brutally murdered by the police in South Africa. In killing Steve Biko, they thought that his words and legacy would die. They were wrong for another courageous middle-aged man risked his life and that of his family to expose the atrocities of South Africa. Donald Woods, a white man, and editor was the one who bought Biko's thoughts to the world. These two men were Freedoms' Fighters for an inclusive South Africa. This movie portrays the transition of Woods from being a do gooder to actually becoming someone who did good. His friendship and love for Steve Biko was a testimony of the possibility of a free South Africa. The cinematography will capture you, the ugliness will sicken you but the shining hope of these two men will inspire you. Without them there would not be a free South Africa today. Both actors do a superb job in portraying the feelings, doubts, fears and hopes that they had for their country. Hopefully this movie will politicize all of us not to be content with the way things are but to initiate change. Blacks should take with them the message of Black consciousness of loving themselves for themselves. Whites should learn that they are a part of the human family in which we must all live together as equals. Learn from these men, this movie and their thoughts. I guarentee you will never be the same.

Denzel Washington plays the legendary Steve Biko in this late-80's film, while Kevin Kline plays a top journalist who befriends Washington's character in South Africa. Denzel is my favorite actor, and although he doesn't get a lot of screen time, this is one of his strongest roles ever(and you know that's saying a lot). Not only does he nail down the African accent, but he portray's Biko's renown concern and persistence.
This movie was awesome for the first hour. I could not take my eyes off it! As the inevitable came around this point, the movie turns to Kevin Kline's character who's trying to escape South Africa and spread Biko's story and message. It drags on quite extensively(the movie is over 2 & 1/2 hours) but it still maintains, enough to keep it's five-star rating in my book. There were some other flaws, like how quickly Kline's character switched from hostility to befriending Biko. That happened so quickly I couldn't tell when they actually saw eye-to-eye. The film was beautifully shot, especially for the 1980's, and I love the scene where Biko is speaking at an outdoor stadium being held up by dozens of supporters. Keep an eye out for Joseph Marcell(Geoffry the butler from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) who has a couple crucial scenes at the end playing a character aptly named 'Moses.'
The reason this movie was so memorable to me was because it really got me thinking how oppressed black folks have been throughout history. Sure, other movies have depicted this and maybe display this better, but Sh##! To find out how black people were even kicked aside and discriminated against in South Africa was eye-opening! I am beginning to understand their frustration as a race, and even those in America, more and more. Seeing this movie, and being Caucasian myself, you get a sense of why the black brethren distrust the white man or see him as evil, and there's no propoganda or direct bashing of the white race in this film. Just depiction. I, myself, kind of feel like a jerk for what my race has done over all these years. And believe me, we may think this sh#t's resolved and straight today, but we got a long ways to go!
You really gotta hand it to Denzel. He's tackled some of the biggest black icons so effortlessly, not only Malcolm X, Reuben Carter, among others, but Steven Biko as well. He may just be an actor, but he must have some strong beliefs in his own race as well to portray legends like these! It would be great to see him start speaking up for his people and directly to his people, a la Bill Cosby. I got this movie off Amazon because I could not find it in stores, but I recommend searching for it yourself or buying it however you can...

I'm a Japanese high school student and reading the book of "Cry Freedom" as an English textbook in the English class. And in the class, I watched this movie. In one words, it's really worth watching. I'm 16 years old now. But after I was born, there had been apartheid for about 6 years. It is dreadful. I'm so scared to think about that. There was apartheid in this world. I think I have to think about that. And I must keep it in my mind. We mustn't do racial discrimination. Because as one people, "human", we must build a World as beautiful as this earh is, as beautiful we are!!

Although the life of Steven Biko is the reason to watch this movie, we also get a fairly vivid (and admittedly cinematic) view of apartheid. Kevin Kline and Denzel Washington are superb in their roles as white journalist and black martyr, but the film as a whole doesn't sustain its strength from beginning to end--the latter half wanes a bit, but the first half of the film is enticing, frightening, fascinating, educational...you name it. This is an important film, especially for those who know little about apartheid because it will make you want to know more.

Fresh from his 1983 Oscar triumph with the film, "Gandhi", director Richard Attenborough tackles the more timely topic of Apartheid in this stirring 1987 drama.
The always-spectacular Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline have the accents down pat in their lead roles as South African Freedom Fighter, Steven Biko, and journalist Donald Woods.
Washington's interpretation of Biko's dignity in the face of the vicious symbols of White authority is more than highly reminiscent of Ben Kingsley's performance in "Gandhi". It is marvelous to watch Washington and Kline interact with each other.
The story begins as dawn arises over a desperately impoverished township in the 1970s. Despite their marginalized existance in their own land, the Black Africans have a certain dignity about them, which makes them truly noble.
Soon, whatever calm existed amid the squalor is shattered by armoured cars of the White South African police, who maraud the township, and attack the innocent, unarmed occupants in a moment that evokes pure outrage.
We meet the White South African journalist destined to help turn the country around while hearing an inaccurate narrative of the events in the aforementioned township, as printed in the "Daily Dispatch", for which Woods is the editor.
Donald Woods, whose family had lived in South Africa for five generations, considers himself a liberal where the issue of Apartheid is concerned. But his path in life begins to change when one Dr. Ramphele (an exotically beautiful, and beautifully spoken Josette Simon) courageously arrives at Woods' office to personally express displeasure about about the paper's commentary about her friend, Steven Biko, and personally invites Woods to meet him.
Woods is led to a community center for Blacks where Biko's wife, Ntsiki (Juanita Waterman), with her beautiful son, Nkosanthi (George Lovell) in tow, escorts him to a shady area of a yard, where her banned husband can first be viewed in silhouette behind he leaves of a tree.
We see the contrast in Woods' own life --his lovely home in an affluent suburb with his wife, Wendy (Penelope Wilton), five children(Kate Hardie as Jane, Graeme Taylor as Dillon, hamish Stuart Walker as Gavin Adam Stuart Walker as Duncan, and Spring Stuart Walker as Mary), maid Evilina(Sophie Mgcina), and dog, Charlie.
Biko takes Woods on a trip through the Black townships, and introduces him to those helping in the Resistance Movement, most notably, Father Kani(Zakes Mokae). Soon, Woods' photographer, Ken(Kevin McNally, who later appeared with Kline in "De-Lovely") is accompanying Woods and Biko to soccer games that turn into Black political meetings, despite Steve's being a banned person, and both ken and Donald bravely join Biko in his quest to end Apartheid. Soon, Woods is facing he same risks as Biko as he brings Blacks to work in his news room to report the news about the Black community more accurately.
A raid on the Black community center led by one Captain De Wet (Timothy West) prompts Woods to speak with Pretoria's High Commissioner, James Kruger (John Thaw), which does more harm than good, as the police begin to harass Woods' family.
In the meantime, Biko continues to deny White authorities, practicing his belief in his own freedom and his right to travel wherever he wants to in his own land.
Tragically, the law catches up to Biko, and when he is beaten to death by the South African police-- who claim he died during a hunger strike--Woods must expose the truth about what happened---not just locally, but before the whole world.
After attending the beautiful and moving ceremony that is Steven Biko's funeral, Woods learns that he is a banned person, as was Steven; he is sentenced to five years where he cannot write anything publically or privately, nor can he be in the company of more than one person at a time aside from those of his immediate family. He decides that his family must leave South Africa because a publishing company in London wants his story on Steve. His wife objects to this at first. But when the attacks against her family mount, including threatening phone calls, vandalism, and finally, the delivery of chemically contaminated T-shirts to the children, she agrees, and the family find ways around police surveillance to become the 1970s answer to the Von Trapp family, leaving behind a comfortable life under a racist regime from which they might have easily benefitted to convey the story of Biko's struggle to the world.
The scenes of the 1976 massacre of schoolchildren are brutal, but important, as is the lesson provided by this film about how racial injustice does not stay compartmentalized to those for whom it is intended.
Among those helping him reach Lesotho are his friend, Father Kani, at one point, the South African police themselves, as Woods is incognito, and later, there is even assistance from a fellow bearing the rather symbolic name of Moses (Joseph Marcell).
The family's departure from their troubled homeland is almost as triumphant as the onscreen portrayal of the Von Trapp's exodus from Hitler's Austria in "The Sound of Music", but trailed by a very solemn message of a then-still-existing problem in South Africa.
As a coda to this story, the film resulted in a lifelong friendship between the real Donald Woods and his portrayer.
Some may feel that the African actors should have had more screen time. But even so, with Washington's amiably dignified performance counterbalanced by Kline's scholarly and nuanced style, both actors can feel satisfied that the making of this film was among the most important two hours they ever spent onsceen.