Cry Freedom (1987)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writers:

John Briley (screenplay) and
Donald Woods (books)

Release Date:

6 November 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

The true story of the friendship that shook South Africa and awakened the world

Plot:

South African journalist Donald Woods is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the death in custody of his friend the black activist Steve Biko.

Plot Keywords:

Newspaper | Journalist | Activist | South Africa | Editor

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Josette Simon	...	Dr. Ramphele
Wabei Siyolwe	...	Tenjy
John Matshikiza	...	Mapetla
Juanita Waterman	...	Ntsiki Biko
Evelyn Sithole	...	Nurse at clinic
Xoliswa Sithole	...	Nurse at clinic
James Coine	...	Young boy
Kevin Kline	...	Donald Woods
Kevin McNally	...	Ken
Albert Ndinda	...	Alec
Andrew Whaley	...	Sub-Editor
Shelley Borkum	...	Woods' receptionist
Denzel Washington	...	Steve Biko
Penelope Wilton	...	Wendy Woods
Kate Hardie	...	Jane Woods

Runtime:

157 min | Canada:147 min (Ontario)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) (TV rating) | USA:PG (certificate #28716) | South Africa:PG (re-rating) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | South Africa:(Seized) (29 July 1988) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

According to Richard Attenborough, a number of cast members are South African exiles

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the Woods family are on the beach planning their getaway (supposedly the beach close to East London, South Africa) the "sea" has vegetation growing out of it (trees, branches etc.). No filming could take place in South Africa at the time, so this scene was filmed at Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe.

Quotes:

Judge: Why do you people call yourselves black? You look more brown than black.
Steve Biko: Why do you call yourselves white? You look more pink than white.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Peter Gabriel: Play (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika

Tragic irony in view of the ANC's subsequent failure

It's sad to view this film now that we know how the ANC got shafted by international capitalism. Biko died for nothing much. Woods achieved little. Yes, outright apartheid was abolished, but all the apparatus of power was reserved by the minority whites, leaving the ANC government more or less impotent. As Naomi Klein writes in The Shock Doctrine, in the talks between the black and white leaderships "the deKlerk government had a twofold strategy. First drawing on the ascendant Washington Consensus that there was no only one way to run an economy, it portrayed key sectors of economic decision making --- such as trade policy and the central bank --- as "technical" or "adminsitrative". Then it used a wide range of new policy tools --- international trade agreements, innovations in constitutional law and structural adjustment programs --- to hand control of those power centres to supposedly impartial experts, economists and officials from the IMF, the World Bank, the GATT and the National Party --- anyone except the liberation fighters from the ANC." The statistical results are horrifying, with not much change accomplished, and AIDS flourishing. Viewing Cry Freedom in this light is deeply ironic --- actually tragic. The ANC has transformed itself from being the solution to being the primary problem.