Cry Freedom

Cry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed byRichard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during theapartheid era of South Africa. The screenplay was writ-ten by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalistDonald Woods. The film centres on the real-life eventsinvolving black activist Steve Biko and his friend DonaldWoods, who initially finds him destructive, and attemptsto understand his way of life. Denzel Washington starsas Biko, while actor Kevin Kline portrays Woods. CryFreedom delves into the ideas of discrimination, politicalcorruption, and the repercussions of violence.The film was primarily shot on location in Zimbabwedue to political turmoil in South Africa at the time ofproduction. As a film showing mostly in limited cine-matic release, it was nominated for multiple awards, in-cluding Academy Award nominations for Best Actor ina Supporting Role, Best Original Score, and Best Origi-nal Song. It also won a number of awards including thosefrom the Berlin International Film Festival and the BritishAcademy Film Awards.A joint collective effort to commit to the film’s produc-tion was made by Universal Pictures and Marble ArchProductions. It was commercially distributed by Univer-sal Pictures theatrically, and by MCA Home Video forhome media. Cry Freedom premiered in theaters nation-wide in the United States on 6 November 1987 grossing$5,899,797 in domestic ticket receipts. The film was atits widest release showing in 479 theaters nationwide. Itwas generally met with positive critical reviews before itsinitial screening in cinemas.

1 Plot

Following a news story depicting the demolition of a slumin East London, South Africa, journalist Donald Woods(Kevin Kline) seeks more information about the incidentand ventures off to meet black activist Steve Biko (Den-zel Washington). Biko has been officially banned by theSouth African government and is not permitted to leavehis defined banning area at KingWilliam’s Town. Woodsis formally against Biko’s banning, but remains critical ofhis political views. Biko invites Woods to visit a blacktownship to see the impoverished conditions and to wit-ness the effect of the government-imposed restrictions,which make up the apartheid system. Woods begins toagree with Biko’s desire for a South Africa where blackshave the same opportunities and freedoms as those en-joyed by the white population. As Woods comes to un-

derstand Biko’s point of view, a friendship slowly devel-ops between them.After being arrested for speaking at a gathering of blackSouthAfricans outside of his banishment zone, Biko is ar-rested and interrogated by South African security forces.Following this, he is brought to court in order to explainhis message directed toward the South African govern-ment. After he speaks eloquently in court and advocatesnon-violence, the security officers who interrogated himvisit his church and vandalize the property. Woods as-sures Biko that he will meet with a government official todiscuss thematter. Woods thenmeets with JimmyKruger(John Thaw), the South African Minister of Justice in hishouse in Pretoria in an attempt to prevent further abuseby the security force. Kruger first expresses discontentover the actions of security force, however Woods is laterharassed by security forces at his home. The securitymen that harass Woods insinuate that their orders to visitWoods came directly from Kruger.Later, Biko decides to travel to Cape Town to speak ata student-run meeting. En route, security forces stop hiscar and arrest him. He is held in harsh conditions andbeaten, causing a severe brain-injury. A doctor recom-mends consulting a nearby specialist in order to best treathis injuries, but the police refuse due to fear that he mightescape. (This would have been nearly impossible, consid-ering that the severity of his injuries left him with nearlycomplete inability to move on his own.) The securityforces instead decide to take him to a prison hospital inPretoria, around 700 miles away from Cape Town. Heis thrown into the back of a prison van and driven on abumpy road, aggravating his brain injury and resulting inhis death.Woods then works to expose the police’s complicity inBiko’s death. He attempts to expose photographs ofBiko’s body that contradicted police reports that he diedof a hunger strike, but he is prevented just before board-ing a plane to leave and informed that he is now banned,therefore not able to leave the country. Woods and hisfamily are targeted in a campaign of harassment by thesecurity police. He later decides to seek asylum in Eng-land to expose the corrupt and racist nature of the SouthAfrican authorities. After a long trek, Woods is eventu-ally able to escape to the country of Lesotho, disguisedas a priest. His wife Wendy (Penelope Wilton) and theirfamily later join him, and are flown to Botswana withthe aid of Bruce Haigh (John Hargreaves), a controversialAustralian diplomat who uses his diplomatic immunity tohelp them. In the film, however, Hargreaves’ character is

1

2 3 PRODUCTION

an Australian journalist.The film’s epilogue displays a graphic detailing a longlist of anti-apartheid activists (including Biko), who diedunder suspicious circumstances while imprisoned by thegovernment. Contrary to popular belief, the listing’sdates in the graphic actually stopped in June 1987, a fewmonths before the film’s release, as the Apartheid govern-ment stopped releasing the increasingly obviously false“official explanations” for deaths in custody.

2 Cast

• Denzel Washington - Stephen Biko

• Juanita Waterman - Ntsiki Biko, Steve Biko’s wife

• Kevin Kline - Donald Woods

• Penelope Wilton - Wendy Woods

• Kevin McNally - Ken, photographer at Daily Dis-patch

• Timothy West - Capt. de Wet

• John Hargreaves - Bruce Haigh

• Miles Anderson - Lemick

• Morgan Sheppard as Policeman

• Mawa Makondo - Jason

• Wabei Slyolwe - Tenjy

• Tommy Buson - Tami

• Jim Findley - Peter Jones

• AlecMcCowen - British Acting High Commissioner

• Zakes Mokae - Father Kani

• John Matshikiza - Mapetla

• Ian Richardson - State Prosecutor

• Josette Simon - Dr. Mamphela Ramphele

• Louis Mahoney - Lesotho Government Official

• Joseph Marcell - Moses, Lesotho postal worker

• Sophie Mgcina - Evalina, Wood family’s domesticmaid

• John Paul - Wendy’s Stepfather

• Gwen Watford - Wendy’s Mother

• Nick Tate - Ritchie private aviator who took Woodsfamily from Lesotho to Botswana

• Garrick Hagon - McElrea, private aviator

• John Thaw - Jimmy Kruger, Minister of Justice

• Michael Turner - Judge Boshoff

• Graeme Taylor - DillonWoods, eldest son ofWoodsfamily

• Kate Hardie - Jane Woods, eldest daughter ofWoods family

• Adam Stuart Walker - Duncan Woods, son of Don-ald and Wendy Woods

• Hamish Stuart Walker - Gavin Woods, son of Don-ald and Wendy Woods

• Spring Stuart Walker - Mary Woods, daughter ofDonald and Wendy Woods

• Munyaradzi Kanaventi - Samora Biko

• George Lovell - Nkosinathi Biko

3 Production

3.1 Development

Racial-demographic map of South Africa in the late 1970s.

The premise of Cry Freedom is based on the true storyof Steve Biko, the charismatic South African BlackConsciousness Movement leader who attempts to bringawareness to the injustice of Apartheid; and DonaldWoods, the liberal white editor of the Daily Dispatchnewspaper who struggles to do the same after Biko ismurdered. In 1972, Biko was one of the founders ofthe Black People’s Convention working on social uplift-ment projects around Durban.[2] The BPC brought to-gether almost 70 different black consciousness groupsand associations, such as the South African Student’sMovement (SASM), which played a significant role inthe 1976 uprisings, and the Black Workers Project whichsupported black workers whose unions were not recog-nized under the Apartheid regime.[2] Biko’s political ac-tivities eventually drew the attention of the South African

4.1 Critical response 3

government which often harassed, arrested, and detainedhim. These situations resulted in him being banned in1973.[3] The banning restricted Biko from talking tomorethan one person a time, in an attempt to suppress therising anti-apartheid political movement. Following aviolation of his banning, Biko was arrested and laterkilled while in police custody. The circumstances lead-ing to Biko’s death caused worldwide anger, as he be-came a martyr and symbol of black resistance.[2] As aresult, the South African government banned a numberof individuals (including Donald Woods) and organiza-tions, especially those closely associated with Biko.[2] TheUnited Nations Security Council responded swiftly to thekilling by later imposing an arms embargo against SouthAfrica.[2] After a period of routine harassment againsthis family by the authorities, as well as fearing for hislife,[4] Woods fled the country after being placed underhouse arrest by the South African government.[4] Woodslater wrote a book in 1978 entitled: Biko, exposing policecomplicity in his death.[3] That book, along with Woods’autobiography Asking For Trouble, both being publishedin the UK, became the basis for the film.[3]

3.2 Filming

Principal filming took place primarily in the country ofZimbabwe due to the tense political situation in SouthAfrica at the time of shooting. Other filming locationsincluded Kenya, as well as film studios in Sheppertonand Middlesex, England.[5] The film includes a drama-tized depiction of the Soweto uprising which occurredon 16 June 1976. Indiscriminate firing by police, killedand injured hundreds of African school children during aprotest march.[3]

3.3 Soundtrack

The original motion picture soundtrack for Cry Free-dom was released by MCA Records on 25 October1990.[6] It features songs composed by veteran musi-cians George Fenton, Jonas Gwangwa and Thuli Du-makude. At Biko’s funeral they sing the hymn NkosiSikelel' iAfrika. Jonathan Bates edited the film’s music.[7]

4 Reception

4.1 Critical response

Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film receivedmostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that81% of 21 sampled critics gave the film a positive review,with an average score of 6.4 out of 10.[8]

Rita Kempley, writing in The Washington Post, said ac-tor Washington gave a “zealous, Oscar-caliber perfor-mance as this African messiah, who was recognized as

one of South Africa’s major political voices when hewas only 25.”[10] Also writing for The Washington Post,Desson Howe thought the film “could have reached fur-ther” and felt the story centering around Wood’s char-acter was “its major flaw”. He saw director Attenbor-ough’s aims as “more academic and political than dra-matic”. Overall, he expressed his disappointment by ex-claiming, “In a country busier than Chile with oppression,violence and subjugation, the story of Woods’ slow awak-ening is certainly not the most exciting, or revealing.”[11]Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times offered amixed re-view calling it a “sincere and valuable movie” while alsoexclaiming, “Interesting things were happening, the per-formances were good and it is always absorbing to seehow other people live.” But on a negative front, he notedhow the film “promises to be an honest account of the tur-moil in South Africa but turns into a routine cliff-hangerabout the editor’s flight across the border. It’s sort of a lib-eral yuppie version of that Disney movie where the braveEast German family builds a hot-air balloon and floats tofreedom.”[12]

Janet Maslin writing in The New York Times saw thefilm as “bewildering at some points and ineffectual atothers” but pointed out that “it isn't dull. Its franklygrandiose style is transporting in its way, as is the storyitself, even in this watered-down form.” She also com-plimented the African scenery, noting that "Cry Free-dom can also be admired for Ronnie Taylor’s picturesquecinematography”.[9] The Variety Staff, felt Washingtondid “a remarkable job of transforming himself into the ar-ticulate and mesmerizing black nationalist leader, whoserefusal to keep silent led to his death in police custody anda subsequent coverup.” On Kline’s performance, they no-ticed how his “low-key screen presence served him wellin his portrayal of the strong-willed but even-temperedjournalist.”[13] Film critic Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tri-bune gave the film a thumbs up review calling it “fresh”and a “solid adventure” while commenting “its images doremain in the mind ... I admire this film very much.”He thought both Washington and Klines’ portrayals were“effective” and “quite good”.[14] Similarly, Michael Pricewriting in the Fort Worth Press viewed Cry Freedomas often “harrowing and naturalistic but ultimately self-important in its indictment of police-state politics.”[15]

Mark Salisbury of TimeOut boasted on the film’s mer-its by declaring the lead acting to be “excellent” and thecrowd scenes “astonishing”, while equally observing howthe climax was “truly nerve-wracking”. He called it “animplacable work of authority and compassion, Cry Free-dom is political cinema at its best.”[16] James Sanfordhowever, writing for the Kalamazoo Gazette, did not ap-preciate the film’s enduring qualities, calling it “a Holly-wood whitewashing of a potentially explosive story.”[17]Rating the film with 3 Stars, critic Leonard Maltin wrotethat the film was a “Sweeping and compassionate film”.He did however note that the film “loses momentum asit spends too much time on Kline and his family’s escape

4 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY

from South Africa”. But in positive followup, he pointedout that it “cannily injects flashbacks of Biko to steer itback on course.”[18]

4.2 Accolades

The film was nominated and won several awards in 1987–88.[19][20] Among awards won were from the BritishAcademy of Film and Television Arts, the Berlin Inter-national Film Festival and the Political Film Society.

4.3 Box office

The film premiered in cinemas on 6 November 1987 inlimited release throughout the U.S.. During its open-ing weekend, the film opened in a distant 19th place andgrossed $318,723 in business showing at 27 theaters.[28]The film Fatal Attraction opened in first place with$7,089,680 screening at 1,351 theaters.[1] The film’s rev-enue dropped by 10.6% in its second week of release,earning $284,853. For that particular weekend, the filmfell to 25th place showing in 19 theaters. The film TheRunning Man, unseated Fatal Attraction to open in firstplace with $8,117,465 in box office revenue showing at1,692 theaters.[1][28]

Cry Freedom had one week in wider release beginningwith the 19–21 February weekend in 1988.[1] The filmopened in 14th place showing at 479 theaters grossing$802,235 in box office business. The film went on totop out domestically at $5,899,797 in total ticket salesthrough an 4-week theatrical run.[1] For 1987 as a whole,the film would cumulatively rank at a box office perfor-mance position of 103.[1]

4.4 Home media

Following its cinematic release in theaters, the film wasreleased in VHS video format on 5 May 1998.[29] TheRegion 1 Code widescreen edition of the film was re-leased on DVD in the United States on 23 February 1999.Special features for the DVD include; production notes,cast and filmmakers bios, film highlights, web links, andthe theatrical trailer.[30] Currently, there is no scheduledrelease date set for a future Blu-ray Disc version of thefilm, although it is available in other media formats suchas Video on demand.[31]

5 See also

• White savior narrative in film

• 1987 in film

6 Bibliography

• Biko, Steve (1979). Steve Biko: Black Conscious-ness in South Africa; Biko’s Last Public Statement andPolitical Testament. Random House. ISBN 978-0-394-72739-4.

• Biko, Steve (2002). I Write What I Like: SelectedWritings. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-04897-0.

• Clarke, Anthony J.; Fiddes, Paul S., eds. (2005).Flickering Images: Theology and Film in Dialogue.Regent’s Study Guides 12. Macon, GA: Smyth &Helwys Publishing. ISBN 1-57312-458-3.

• Goodwin, June (1995). Heart of Whiteness:Afrikaners Face Black Rule In the New South Africa.Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-81365-3.

• Harlan, Judith (2000). Mamphela Ramphele. TheFeminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 978-1-55861-226-6.

• Juckes, Tim (1995). Opposition in South Africa: TheLeadership of Z. K. Matthews, Nelson Mandela, andStephen Biko. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-94811-5.

• Magaziner, Daniel (2010). The Law and theProphets: Black Consciousness in South Africa,1968-1977. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8214-1918-2.

• Malan, Rian (2000). My Traitor’s Heart: A SouthAfrican Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe,and His Conscience. Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-3684-8.

• Omand, Roger (1989). Steve Biko and Apartheid(People & Issues). HamishHamilton Limited. ISBN978-0-241-12640-0.

• Paul, Samuel (2009). The Ubuntu God: Decon-structing a South African Narrative of Oppression.Pickwick Publications. ISBN 978-1-55635-510-3.

• Pityana, Barney (1992). Bounds of Possibility: TheLegacy of Steve Biko & Black Consciousness. D.Philip. ISBN 978-1-85649-047-4.

• Price, Linda (1992). Steve Biko (They Fought forFreedom). Maskew Miller Longman. ISBN 978-0-636-01660-6.

• Tutu, Desmond (1996). The Rainbow People ofGod. Image. ISBN 978-0-385-48374-2.

• Van Wyk, Chris (2007). We Write What We Like:Celebrating Steve Biko. Wits University Press. ISBN978-1-86814-464-8.

5

• Wa Thingo, Ngugi (2009). Something Torn andNew: An African Renaissance. Basic Civitas Books.ISBN 978-0-465-00946-6.

• Wiwa, Ken (2001). In the Shadow of a Saint: ASon’s Journey to Understand His Father’s Legacy.Steerforth. ISBN 978-1-58642-025-3.

• Woods, Donald (2004). Rainbow Nation Revis-ited: South Africa’s Decade of Democracy. AndreDeutsch. ISBN 978-0-233-00052-7.

7 References[1] “Cry Freedom”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-06-

15.

[2] “Stephen Bantu (Steve) Biko”. About.com. Retrieved2010-06-20.

[3] “Stephen Bantu Biko”. SouthAfricanHistoryOnline. Re-trieved 2010-06-15.

[4] 1978: Newspaper editor flees South Africa. BBC. Re-trieved 20 June 2010.

[5] Attenborough, Richard (Director). (1987). Cry Freedom[Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.

[6] “Cry Freedom: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”.Amazon. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[7] “Cry Freedom”. Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[8] Cry Freedom (1987). Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertain-ment. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[9] Maslin, Janet (6 November 1987). Cry Freedom. TheNew York Times. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[10] Kempley, Rita (6 November 1987). Cry Freedom. TheWashington Post. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[11] Howe, Desson (6 November 1987). Cry Freedom. TheWashington Post. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[12] Ebert, Roger (6 November 1987). Cry Freedom. ChicagoSun-Times. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[13] Variety Staff (1 January 1987). Cry Freedom. Variety.Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[14] Siskel, Gene (6 November 1987). Cry Freedom. At theMovies. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[15] Price, Michael (6 November 1987). Cry Freedom. FortWorth Press. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[16] Salisbury, Mark (6 November 1987). Cry Freedom.TimeOut. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[17] Sanford, James (6 November 1987). Cry Freedom.Kalamazoo Gazette. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[18] Maltin, Leonard (5 August 2008). Leonard Maltin’s 2009Movie Guide. Signet. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-452-28978-9.

[19] “Cry Freedom: Awards & Nominations”. MSN Movies.Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[20] “Cry Freedom (1987)". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[21] “Nominees & Winners for the 60th Academy Awards”.Oscars.org. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[22] “Cry Freedom”. BAFTA.org. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[23] “Cry Freedom”. Berlin International Film Festival. Re-trieved 2010-06-15.

[24] “Cry Freedom”. GoldenGlobes.org. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[25] “31st Annual GrammyAwardHighlights”. Grammy.com.Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[26] “Awards for 1987”. nbrmp.org. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[27] “Previous Winners”. Political Film Society. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[28] “Cry Freedom”. The Numbers. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

[29] “Cry Freedom VHS Format”. Amazon.com. Retrieved2010-06-15.

[30] “Cry Freedom: On DVD”. MSN Movies. Retrieved2010-06-15.

[31] “Cry Freedom: VOD Format”. Amazon.com. Retrieved2010-09-06.

8 External links• Official website

• Cry Freedom at the Internet Movie Database

• Cry Freedom at AllMovie

• Cry Freedom at the Movie Review Query Engine

• Cry Freedom at Rotten Tomatoes

• Cry Freedom at Box Office Mojo

• Cry Freedom film trailer at YouTube

6 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1 Text• Cry Freedom Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry%20Freedom?oldid=638815586 Contributors: Deb, SimonP, Skysmith, Dimadick,Academic Challenger, David Gerard, Angmering, Andycjp, Lockeownzj00, Robert Brockway, OwenBlacker, Kuralyov, ScottyBoy900Q,Jayjg, Discospinster, WegianWarrior, Darwinek, Erik, Cburnett, Panchurret, Kelisi, GregorB, Rjwilmsi, Harro5, Darguz Parsilvan, Mar-netteD, Andreas S., Jay-W, Gwernol, YurikBot, RussBot, Briaboru, Quentin Smith, Muntuwandi, UDScott, Catamorphism, RFBailey,Bigrich, Bibliomaniac15, SmackBot, Pgk, Michaelbeckham, Kintetsubuffalo, Jakz34, Bluebot, Zaian, Dr.Poison, JJW20084, Halaqah,Xionbox, Dl2000, Benmay, Luigibob, Aapold, Lbr123, CmdrObot, ShelfSkewed, Cydebot, Treybien, Tec15, Alaibot, Gnfnrf, Northern-Thunder, BetacommandBot, Thijs!bot, Marek69, Dawkeye, ABCxyz, MegX, Joshua, Easchiff, PacificBoy, Avicennasis, Indon, Emcardi,Grushenka, Mannerheim, Blupping, MartinBot, Rhino131, Wlodzimierz, Mike.lifeguard, PythonMonty504, Jojoster, Tai kit, Themoody-blue, Crazytrucker, Sparkymeg, Philip Trueman, OldZombie, Broadbot, McM.bot, Sparkling Gray, Pällikkä, SieBot, Nubiatech, A. Carty,Aspects, Beemer69, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Jan1nad, RossMcG, Justinmckee07, HarryKG, GDibyendu, Addbot, Ejs-Bot, Tide rolls, Zorrobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Ulric1313, Materialscientist, LilHelpa, Xqbot, Tuesdaily, Ched, LucienBOT,Nakakapagpabagabag, Winterst, ScottMHoward, Cnwilliams, Hummingbird347, Nistra, EmausBot, Wikipelli, ZéroBot, Josve05a, De-Waine, SporkBot, Δ, ClueBot NG, Helpful Pixie Bot, Montalban, Katangais, MinghamSmith, Mmancino, JustBerry, Dancedom, TaylorTrescott, Vieque and Anonymous: 135

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