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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 11883
Released: February 23, 1999 |
| Our Price: $6.69 |
| Used Price: $4.48 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Story of the horrors of apartheid, based on the true story of the friendship between white newspaper reporter Donald Woods and South African Black activist Stephen Biko.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 2-SEP-2003
Media Type: DVD
Description of Cry Freedom:
Sir Richard Attenborough (Gandhi) directs this semi-successful drama about the relationship between South African black activist Steven Biko and a sympathetic newspaper editor (Kevin Kline). Attenborough's typical sweep of the life and times of Biko is particularly rewarding in the first half of the film, but once the leader comes to his untimely end at the hands of white police, the story shifts entirely to Kline's character and the latter's efforts to escape the country with his family. That change is a tactical error in the script that robs the film of its initial power and makes the arguably unfortunate choice of emphasizing the destiny of a white character when Biko himself deserved an entire feature for his story and causes. --Tom Keogh
Cry Freedom Reviews:
Freedomn for South Africans 
2009-12-02 - This is an interesting historical movie about the struggle for freedom of blacks in Africa.
Poor Delivery Service 
2009-11-27 - I paid for this DVD to be shipped within two days. It did not arrive on the day it was supposed to. UPS delivered it to the wrong address. Very disappointed in the way in which it was handled both by UPS and Amazon.
Cry Freedom 
2009-08-09 - A greater and more important performance by Denzel Washington then Malcolm X in my opinion, this story which chronicles a reporters interaction with S. African civil rights leader Stephen Biko and the events leading up to and following his death. The end of this movie can drag on a bit, but the messages and historical dipictions of the corruption, racism, and cruelty of the apatheid S. African regime cannot and should not be forgotten. In my opinion this movie should be a manditory part of H.S. curriculums. To many youths of today know the word apartheid, but too little else. This movie is a must see.
The future is absent 
2009-04-17 - A long film about a very important character from South Africa, Stephen Biko. He is one of these Blacks who did not survive apartheid, who actually died a long time before their normal time. The already old film though does not show how important Biko was, what he really represented. His life and his teaching is reduced to little, at best a few witty remarks. The film being from 1987, the objective was to push South Africa over the brink that would lead her to liberation. So the film aims at showing how irrational the South African supporters of apartheid are, in 1987. To show this the film has to look beyond Biko's death, hence to center its discourse not on Biko but on a white liberal journalist and his escaping the absurd system in which he is living. His escape is made necessary because of the victimization he is the victim of, along with his family, and because he wants to publish the first book on Biko, after his death, and that can only happen in England. The film shows a way to escape South Africa, while apartheid is still standing and killing. So do not expect this way to be realistic and true. It could not be. But the film has tremendously aged because it does not show South Africa with any historical distantiation, the very distantiation that has taken place under Nelson Mandela's presidency and that is called forgiveness provided those who want to be forgiven speak up and out. The film is strong and emotional but that very historical limit makes it rather weak today, especially since the film does not mention the third racial community, the Indians. Panegyric books or films all have that defect: they are looking at the person they are supposed to portrait from only one point of view. That explains why the film has aged so much, seems to be coming from so long ago, as if nothing had changed at all. A remake is necessary.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, CEGID
Yes!!!
2009-03-26 - Loved, loved, loved this movie! Denzel once again does a superb job of depicting Biko....don't know why I hadn't seen it earlier.
